


Finding Serenity

by HinoKahoko



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Genetically Engineered Beings, Human Experimentation, M/M, Minor Character Death, Spacepirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 60,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HinoKahoko/pseuds/HinoKahoko
Summary: “Wow, how poetic you are today, Kun!” Ziyi grinned at his friend. “Dying for your crew isn’t exactly fit for your though space pirate image.”Xukun chuckles while the two of them stop in front of the building they were looking for. It seemed rather friendly: almost too friendly in a setting like the grim and wasteful planes of the Planet Setada. The bright sign “Tea for Three” almost made Ziyi feel like he is back on Nexum planets like Eidara at the center of the galaxy not at the very edge of it.“Up until this point I was able to avoid a heroic end” Xukun said. “and I am planning to keep up this tendency, thank you very much. I mean, it is just a few crates to deliver from A to B. How complicated it can be?”A Firefly/X-men inspired Sci-fi AU wherein Xukun is the Dread Space Pirate who wants to finally buy the Papillon, Ziyi wants his revenge, Xingjie just wants to settle down with rest of the Gouran, Yanjun has no idea what he wants and Zhangjing has had enough with all of them. Meanwhile Zhengting wants nothing else, but to unite his family again.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is not actually in the Firefly universe because I am changing a lot of things, but it was heavily inspired by that.  
> And of course, I had to changed the boys' ages, so I can add sufficient background stories. You can see their actual ages I came up with in the end notes, but I don't think it's really important for the story.  
> Please don't hate me much. English is not my first language, this is basically practice. I hope I am not that much of a disappointment.  
> This is my first time posting my writing for the world to see, I hope you will like it.

_It was a stupid idea_ Ziyi thought for the nth time since he left the Papillon behind with Xukun at his side. The captain and the first mate should not leave the ship at the same time. The Setada is not a friendly planet on its best days and today everything screamed wrong to Ziyi. But it wasn't a new feeling for him: ever since Xukun accepted this job, something felt off about it.

But the first mate wasn't the only one with doubts: Yanjun also voiced his opinion on their way here through hyperspace.

“It’s just way too much money for something as simple as a cargo shipment, you know?” he said while casually picking up his sniper and disassembling it for a thorough cleaning. Ziyi liked watching him caring for his guns: the way he inspected and caressed every single peace so delicately. It was almost like he was happening to be on a private and intimate moment between lovers. Completely different from Xingjie’s routine, who was all swift and practical motions with a precision of a surgeon. Two completely different style, two completely different people, but Ziyi was certain that he wouldn't want either of the crew’s gunmen as his enemy. “I’m telling you, we are walking into a trap. We should have got more details about these crates we need to get.”

The ship’s quartermaster gave Yanjun a look but Ziyi couldn't tell that Zhangjing was actually reacting to the gunman’s words or the gun arsenal scattered around his precious dining table.

“I don’t think Ronghao would scam us.” He said while methodically rearranging the food stock in the kitchen cabinets. “We had way too much history working together for him to risk it. And can you not do this in the mess hall, please? We eat on that table for God’s sake!”

It seemed like it was both. Ziyi knew the older man enough to realize that despite his confident declaration he was also nervous as hell. Ziyi still couldn’t help but smile on the boy’s antiques: Zhangjing mood swings were still adorable for Ziyi, even on such a stressful day like this.

“Oh and deprive you from the pleasure of my company? I am not that cruel!” Yanjun said mockingly. Zhangjing was already opening his mouth to retort but he seemed to think otherwise and closed it, walking towards the gunman. An angry Zhangjing was a scary sight: despite his small frame and his beautifully warm eyes even a much bigger and stronger man, like Ziyi himself had cowered at the sight of an angry Zhangjing. The usual cause of these tantrums was one Lin Yanjun. Ziyi knew that he would take his adrenalin from whatever little kicks he can, so he loved getting the rise out of Zhangjing. Scenes like this were such a routine by now, that Ziyi welcomed it wholeheartedly. At least something can stay normal, when everything seemed to be at odds. 

Zhangjing was about to put a smirking Yanjun into a deadlock when Xikan fortunately interrupted him in the process.

“But ge, what if Ronghao was also lured into this?” he said worriedly chewing on his cuticles. Ziyi walked over where he and Linong have been sitting with a mug of tea each and gently grabbed the navigator’s hand to stop him from causing more damage to himself. “Sorry I am too nervous. Setada is too close to the Vortex I am afraid that I calculated the coordinates wrongly and we will all end up stuck in the event horizon.” 

“I am sure it’s fine” Linong said from Xikan’s other side smiling his brightest smile, patting Xikan’s arm gently. “You are the best astrotechnician I know. You never miscalculated anything before. Besides, we also have the best pilot in this galaxy. Even if we don’t arrive to where we expect to arrive I am sure that Linkai will be able to get us out of any trouble!”

“Nongnong is right” Ziyi nodded rubbing his thumb over Xikan’s trembling hands reassuringly. Zhangjing’s anger seemed to also deflate quickly as he walked over to the three of them gently caressing Xikan’s head, while resting his other hand on Ziyi’s shoulder giving it a grounding squeeze. It was supposed to be a simple friendly gesture, yet it completely electrified Ziyi. It was exhilarating yet terrifying for the first mate every single time it happened: this short man knew him so well. Sure, Xukun knew him very well, Yanjun sometimes seemed to know him too well, but none of them had the same effect on Ziyi as Zhangjing’s quiet reassurances and his never-faltering care. He saw through of his facade so easily, yet at the same time he didn't use this knowledge against him and that was something new.

He was literally the best thing to ever happen to Ziyi even if he was too much of a coward to ever call him his.

“Even if this mission feels off we are still the best of the best. We just have to trust each other.” Ziyi continued getting himself out of his own reverie, focusing back of his task of reassuring the crewmembers. _We just have trust Xukun to know what the heck he is doing_ was what he rather left unsaid. He needed to encourage their crew not disrupt them any further.

So when they finally landed the Papillon on the spaceport of Setada and Xukun asked him to accompany him to meet with Ronghao’s friend, Oyang Jin at his remote inn at the edge of town, he wasn’t exactly happy with his captain. When Xukun was “conducting business transactions” he would bring Yanjun and Xingjie with him. When the transactions were less shady, Xukun would allow Zhenghao to accompany him too: he always had a soft spot for the young boy and liked to feed his curiosity with everything around the galaxy. So Ziyi was always left behind to supervise the supply run with Zhangjin and Yanchen: the quartermaster and the ship engineer tended to go a little bit over budget without any restrain from Ziyi or the captain. The unusual situation had sent Ziyi’s danger senses haywire. He was actually glad to know that Yanjun is following them secretly but within shooting range.

“Maybe we should have landed the Papillon out here at the edge of town.” Xukun said deep in his thoughts. “Ronghao said his buyer was pretty adamant that the crates need to be transported in absolute secrecy. My guess is that someone else wants it and will try to steal it from us.”

“It doesn’t matter. The port gives at least some safety to the crew. Out here, we would all be in danger.”

“Yes, this way, only the two of us will get killed while trying to get the cargo to the ship.”

“Wow, how poetic you are today, Kun!” Ziyi grinned at his friend. “Dying for your crew isn’t exactly fit for your though space pirate image.”

Xukun chuckled while the two of them stop in front of the building they were looking for. It seemed rather friendly: almost too friendly in a setting like the grim and wasteful planes of the Planet Setada. The bright sign “Tea for Three” almost made Ziyi feel like he is back on Nexum planets like Eidara at the center of the galaxy not at the very edge of it.

“Up until this point I was able to avoid a heroic end” Xukun said. “and I am planning to keep up this tendency, thank you very much. I mean, it is just a few crates to deliver from A to B. How complicated it can be?”

Ziyi truly hoped that Xukun’s optimism is not misplaced.

“I hope not much” Ziyi agreed. “You might be ready to die, but I still have a promise to fulfill.”

“Of course you have, I know” Xukun smiled patting Ziyi’s shoulder fondly. “And you will fulfill it and you will have a lot of time on your hands to make many more promises for example to adorable quartermasters, this time around.”

Well, yeah. Xukun knew him just a little bit too well.

“I hate you, exposing me like that.”

“You thought that it’s a secret? That’s adorable” Xukun laughed while holding the door for Ziyi to enter the inn first. “I would be surprised if Zhenghao hadn't noticed your mountain-sized crush yet and he is practically an oblivious baby.”

Ziyi chuckled to himself embarrassed, but the moment he stepped into the cozy restaurant area he could feel shivers running down his spine. Quickly looking around he noticed the source of the uncomfortable feeling: they were being watched. The stranger sat in the far corner of the restaurant wearing a simple grey sweatshirt with its hood up so Ziyi couldn’t make out his or her features but he seemed like not eating or drinking anything, his sole focus was on the pair of them. Ziyi could tell that Xukun also noticed the man but decided to ignore him and strode up to reception asking for the manager to see them.

 

Oyang Jin was as nice as his reputation made him up to be: smiling jovially at the two of them, offering them refreshers while seeming genuinely interested in their unique lifestyle.

“So you live off of commissions, huh? What sort of jobs you take? I might call you next time I find something interesting to sell.”

“Anything, basically.” Xukun shrugged. “We have a few moral objections of course. No assassination jobs, no human trafficking. Well, we always take passengers, but only with their own consent. And of course, no First Ring jobs. There is no such planet that can be described as “First Ring, but safe” in our book.”

“I can understand that” Jin nodded. “Especially considering your first mate here”

Xukun and Ziyi shared a panicked look and Ziyi’s hand immediately moved for his side for his gun. The man in the corner also moved: he tilted his head slightly to the side as if he was confused at what he heard. Ziyi forced himself to focus on the situation at hand, since it seemed ridiculous to think that the man could overhear them from such distance and the general noise of the inn.

“Hey, hey, relax!” Jin hurried to say, noticing the men’s reaction. “Do you think that I would have my inn out here in the end of the world if I wouldn't have fought on the wrong side at the Unification Movement?”

Ziyi’s hand relaxed a little but his suspicion didn’t go away entirely.

“If our side would have won it would be called the War of Independence, not Unification Movement. And my son would be going into a fancy school on Nexus” Jin continued. “Your reputation exceeds you, General Wang. You are still a hero, for many of us out here.”

Xukun, noticing his first mate’s discomfort at being addressed like that, had decided to get to point.

“So, Jin” he said, tapping his empty glass on the counter. “I guess you have some crates for us?”

“Sure, follow me” he said hurrying out on a side door motioning for the boys to follow him.

“My boys had snatched them around the Vortex actually. I tried to open them, to see what’s inside but I don’t know this tech. This is something else”

Xukun’s eyebrows furrowed worrying.

“Did it come from the Vortex then?” he asked.

“That’s impossible” Ziyi scoffed.

“I wouldn't be so hasty to dismiss the possibility. It’s something strange that we don’t understand. Quite like the Vortex itself” Jin shook his head, sighing. “Anyway, I messaged Ronghao maybe he could find a buyer for it and he immediately did, much to my surprise. They actually said there has to be a fourth one somewhere around but we only managed to find these three. So if you happen upon another one like this, they said they would pay double for it than they do for these three.”

Ziyi exchanged a worried look with Xukun and realized that they are thinking the same thing. There aren't many people who can wield as much money as their buyer does and who can access such random information in so little time. This meant they are doing the very thing they never wanted.

The crates have been safely wrapped in simple wooden boxes for easier and less provocative transport so Ziyi and Xukun decided to not expect it too closely just load it on their landspeeder and quickly head back to the Papillon on the shortest route possible. Ziyi took one last look in the interior of the Tea for Three. The man in the grey tracksuit wasn’t there anymore and this fact had worried Ziyi even more.

Because they are probably working for the Nexum Prime itself.


	2. Chapter 1: Linong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why don’t we just play basketball?” Zhenghao asked innocently. Linkai and Yanchen shared a look and turned their head towards the youngest in sync.  
> “Blasphemy!” Yanchen exclaimed acting horrified.  
> “The Gouran Gang only plays deathball, sorry” Linkai stated firmly.  
> “Well, you know what to do with your Gouran Gang and your stupid games that don't actually exist…” Xikan started but an unfamiliar chuckle from behind Linong had interrupted him. The medic also jumped at the sound and quickly turned around in alert. What he had seen was definitely not what he had expected.  
> Just near the ramp of the ship, an angel was standing.
> 
> The Papillon's crew left behind entertains a guest and Xukun tries not to have an aneurysm when he finds out.

Zhenghao was absolutely fascinated by the Vortex. Ever since the Papillon left the hyperspace, he has been attached to the panorama window near the infirmary staring into the mesmerizing whirl of colors in the event horizon almost obsessively.

“I thought it would be black for some reason” he told Linong, who was cataloging his supplies, seeing if whether they are low on something. Zhenghao was supposed to be helping him, but Linong didn't expected too much from the teenager: the vortex has the same effect on everybody when they see it for the first time.

“Because you probably expected to see a black hole” he said while peeking into an almost empty drawer. They were low on gauzes yet again, which was not much of a surprise with little Haohao around who was an accident prone and Linkai being well… himself. “But this is a wormhole, not a black hole.”

“What’s the difference?” Hao asked the medic curiously.

Linong didn't plan on launching into the depths of astrophysics for the young boy – he will save that to Xikan - so he just simply said:

“This has an other end in a very far away point of the universe while black holes just trap you.”

“Far away? Further than we are from the Sirona now?”

Linong couldn't help but laugh out loud at Zhenghao’s naivety. They were only a week-long hyperspace ride away from Zhenghao’s home planet Sirona and the boy thinking that they are far away from there was just simply adorable, yet a little sad.

“Haohao, we are not that far from Sirona. Do you miss it that much?”

It was true though, in the past six months since Zhenghao joined the crew, they didn’t venture out much further then the systems of the Second Ring, sometimes the Third Ring. Zhenghao hadn’t even seen Haradria, the huge trading planet out on the Fifth Ring. So Linong could easily understand while Hao thought that coming out to the Twelfth Ring is “far away” and he also understood that the boy has never been further from his home. But Hao just chuckled darkly.

“There isn’t much left to miss, is it?” He said, melancholy overcoming him once again. Linong shivered: he still remembered vividly when they first arrived at planet after the Nexum striked. Dead and despair surrounded them: the handful of survivors trying to get themselves together and flee from the dying planet. Xukun offered Zhenghao a new home on the Papillon and the boy took the opportunity without hesitation: everything he knew beforehand had disappeared in the fury of the Nexum. Nothing and no one can break the Union of the Galaxy as long as they are around, even though all Sironians wanted was better tax laws so they could feed their own. The Nexus and all the other planets of the First Ring has barely any food, they rely on the outer rings for supplies and it was a huge burden for everyone out there. So the people of Sironia has been denounced as traitors of the Union for starving the billions of people living in the First Ring by withdrawing their crops and had been used as a demonstration of power for the other systems to not dare to try the same thing.

Not that destroying the whole infrastructure of a planet has done any good for the “starving billions” of the Nexus, but somehow this part has been redacted from the news coverage.

“Anyway” Linong said trying to stir away his own thoughts and Zhenghao’s as well from the said reality of their situation. “They speculate that this wormhole actually leads to the Gamma Galaxy, but we only know this from the occasional stuff that comes out of it.

“Really?” Zhenghao’s eyes rounded from surprise. “How come no one knows for sure?”

“Well, for starters, we are pretty sure that Gamma’s technology is far superior to ours, so they must be guarding the Vortex on their end somehow, because anyone who ventured in had never send anything back. Not a single message or a single escape pod of ours had returned from them.” Linong smiled to himself thinking of how valuable everything coming out of the Vortex is considered on the First Ring planets. “Many people speculate that the Gammas actually use the Vortex for just garbage disposal and yet here we are trembling over the thought that they might come and conquer us all”

Zhenghao laughed.

“I like this. The Nexum being nothing but a bottom of a garbage can. Do people actually think that this is a threat?”

“What did you think, what keeps the Union together, kid?” Linong heard the voice of Xingjie ringing down the hallway. The gunman was walking towards them alongside the ship engineer. “Terror is never enough for a regime to be stable. The fear from the unknown is also much needed.”

“Oooh? Our Jie-ge is so wise!” Yanchen said in a sing-song voice, mocking the elder one. Xingjie just swapped towards Yanchen dismissively and turned his attention towards the other two crewmembers. “Are you to done with your inventory or just chit-chatting away? Captain says we are landing soon and he needs your list, Nongnong.”

Linong just smiled at him. “I am almost done, thank you. But can I not go with Zhangjing this time?”

“No” Xingie shook his head sending a pitying look towards the medic. He knew how much every crew member would want to stand on solid ground for a change. “Caps says he wants us here in case we need to leave quickly. Zhangjin and I will get everything you need quickly and efficiently while you are staying here, guarding the ship.”

Yanchen couldn’t hide a disappointed grimace. “Even I am not allowed to go.”

“Yanchen, the Captain is leaving you in charge of the ship, is that not enough trust put in you?”

“I guess you are right, ge” Yanchen agreed reluctantly. “And Xukun wouldn't let me buy a new fission power converter anyway, it's too expensive apparently but who am I to say anything? Just the goddamn head engineer of this deathtrap. And when the day comes when we just snap out of hyperspace and the hull breaks in two like that ancient tale of that friggin' ship, the Titanic, Xukun will just say "oh I wonder why this happened... Yeah I know, I haven't listened to Yanchen" and then I will just laugh at him. Serves him right, ruining his own ship... wait! It's not even his actually. If he just wants to take revenge on Qin Fen for something and ruin his ship, he should have just said so. I have better ways to ruin a ship that won't necessarily kill us..." Yanchen rambled on as usual. There was no malice in his words, they all knew that Yanchen had adored the captain and the rest of the crew and he was actually in love with the Pappilon itself. He would never hurt any of it on purpose. But Xingjie was having none of his babbling and silenced him with a look. Yanchen sighed and turned towards the youngest. "Let's go, Haohao, you can come and oversee the landing with me.”

“What? You actually allow me in there while landing? Wow! Thanks, Yanchen ge!” Zhenghao said enthusiastically and hurried down the corridor towards the engine room. Yanchen ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately with a bright smile on his face as he warned to boy to be careful about running.

 

Linong could sense the tension in every crew member of Papillon and the feeling of it just magnified once they landed and the Captain left with Ziyi and Yanjun. 

Linkai and Yanchen decided to try and take some of the nerves away: they brought out one of their empty basket and zipwired it up to the hull of the cargo bay and started to play a probably made-up game, with a sheep-skin ball. Linong sat back comfortably in a foldable chair to watch them while trying to get some sun on him: they had a long way here and Linong needed his Vitamin D.

Xikan and Zhenghao had watched them for a while too then decided to join, but as always, they had a problem with the rules.

“You do this every single time!” Xikan snapped when Yanchen announced they lost because Xikan broke a cardinal rule. “You make up new rules, just to trick us!” 

“Hey! It’s not my fault you guys can’t learn the rules, we always try to teach you!” Linkai lifted his hands in surrender.

“Why don’t we just play basketball?” Zhenghao asked innocently. Linkai and Yanchen shared a look and turned their head towards the youngest in sync.

“Blasphemy!” Yanchen exclaimed acting horrified.

“The Gouran Gang only plays deathball, sorry” Linkai stated firmly.

“Well, you know what to do with your Gouran Gang and your stupid games that don't actually exist…” Xikan started but an unfamiliar chuckle from behind Linong had interrupted him. The medic also jumped at the sound and quickly turned around in alert. What he had seen was definitely not what he had expected.

Just near the ramp of the ship, an angel was standing. Or at least, he looked like that to Linong. Delicate features, deep soulful brown eyes and a crown of soft brown locks captivated Linong and the rest of the Papillon’s crew. He was tall and thin, and despite his horrendous clothes – grey hoodie, grey sweatpants and… was he not wearing any shoes?! – he still radiated some kind of elegance: it was like he was out of this world.

“I am sorry” The beautiful man – boy, really – said softly. “I didn’t mean to disturb you, I saw that you are having fun, even if you feel a little mischievous” Linong could feel his eyebrows disappearing behind his hairline while sharing a look with Yanchen. Who said things like that? “But I wanted to ask if you would take me as your passenger.”

Yanchen looked at him contemplating.

“Where are you going?” he asked stepping closer to the strange man. He nodded at Yanchen enthusiastically and pulled up the left sleeve of his hoodie, revealing a huge tablet attached to his deathly pale and thin forearm. Linong didn’t know any companies that made such gear and it seemed too fancy to be homemade. How can someone have such tech and still can’t afford shoes? The boy tapped his screen, read something and looked back at the crew.

“I am going to 1739FE-DV3289-479A7C…” he started to recite.

“Woah, woah there…” Yanchen stopped him. “Just say the name of the planet”

“Oh…” The boy looked confused. “I am not sure about that.”

Yanchen sighed

“You know what, just show Xikan the coordinates, okay? We won’t know from you telling us that.”

The boy rushed over to Xikan without any hesitation and show him his tablet. His bare footsteps made no sound on the metal ramp as he approached the crewmembers. Linong winced even just thinking about how hot the metal could be in the sunshine, but the boy was walking around barefoot in the dirty spaceport, so he must have been used to it.

“Cool tech!” the navigator said, quickly scanning the screen. It seemed like Linong was the only one to notice, that the boy knew who Xikan was without any instructions. “Who uses hexa coding for coordinates instead of the standard space mapping system? Hmm… I guess this is more universal like this, I had seen it used in old astronomy books…” Xikan muttered off to himself why getting out his own tablet tapping away to decode the destination.

“What’s this here?” A voice suddenly startled them all. It was Xingjie, with Zhangjing at his side. They were looking at their newcomer suspiciously.

“Well, we might have a passenger.” Yanchen said, while Linkai and Zhenghao rushed to help Zhangjing with the new supplies, leaving Linong and Yanchen to explain everything to Xingjie, while Xikan was decoding furiously. “Boss, this is… I’m sorry what’s your name?”

“Zhengting” he said pronouncing every syllable clearly as if his own name sounded unfamiliar to him.

“And where are you from, Zhengting?” Xingjie asked suspiciously. They could all feel it: the boy seemed innocent enough, but it seemed like everything was slightly off with him.

“I am from Yuehua” he said smiling.

“Never heard of it” Yanchen piped up. It seemed that none of them did before.

“I can tell you the coordinates!”

“It’s not necessary, thank you!” Yanchen said quickly, before the boy would start reciting hexa numbers again. “How did you get here so far from everything?”

“Well…” Zhengting started. “I was kidnapped, I guess.”

“What?” Xingjie’s eyes bulged out in surprise. “What happened to your kidnappers? Shouldn't you be going home instead?”

“No, I can’t yet” Zhengting shook his head erratically. “First I have to get my brothers, they are waiting for me at that world” he explained pointing at the coordinates on his tablet. “My kidnappers are long since gone now, you don’t have to worry. I was managed to escape them without their notice, but the shuttle I used was malfunctioning and I crashed on this planet.” 

“Well, you are lucky then” Xikan smiled looking up from his tablet. “The planet you are going is next to the system of our destination. What a coincidence!” 

Zhengting’s face lit up and if Linong thought that he was mesmerizing before, he was absolutely breathtaking now.

“Wonderful” he exclaimed, jumping a little.

“Huh” Xingjie said still not convinced. “What a coincidence indeed.”

“You don’t have to worry, I wouldn't harm anyone who has such warm feelings as you crew does” Zhengting said clearly sensing Xingjie’s suspicions towards him. Xingjie was still struggling to find an appropriate answer to that sentence, when Linong noticed Zhangjing arriving back and motioning for him to come over, a little further from the stranger.

“What’s his deal?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“I am not sure…” Linong said, a thought suddenly occurring to him. “I think he might have been drugged Jing ge, he said he was kidnapped, but otherwise he talks gibberish. Might be also a concussion.”

“Holy shit! No wonder he is like that!” Zhangjing gasped, turning towards the boy immediately. “Zhengting! Come inside! You must be hungry, we can give you something!”

“I don’t feel hungry, thank you” Zhengting shook his head.

“And maybe Zhangjing should also slow down a little” Xingjie raised his hand as a warning. “Taking a stranger on the ship is not exactly our decision to make.”

“Oh, I just invited him in, until Xukun and the others are back! He should eat and drink something, maybe Nongnong can check him over, he clearly went through a lot!”

“Oh, Nongnong! That’s a really cute name for a doctor!” Zhengting smiled looking at Linong in wonder.

Xingjie finally seemed to get on the same page as Zhangjing and Linong did and nodded curtly.

“Okay, Zhengting. Then you should come in for a rest. When the captain returns, he can decide if you can come with us or not.”

“That’s very kind of you! But you really don’t have to worry, my life functions are completely normal and I am not hungry and not planning on using much of my energy soon, so I should be fine for a few days.”

That was it for the quartermaster. Zhangjing strictly commandeered their guest into the mess hall and started puttering away in his kitchen. Linong followed them, curious about what else they can learn about the boy, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought. Once inside, Zhengting attention had started to fleet around the interior of the ship, staring in amazement, touching everything. Yanchen immediately decided that he should also tag along while their new friend is wandering around the ship, since the first thing Zhengting tried to examine was the exposed malfunctioning electric panel near the cargo bay of the ship, the mechanic stopping the boy’s hand the last minute before he almost electrocuted himself. Making him eat wasn't a done business either: Zhangjing tried to put some food in front of him, but it was merely in vain: Zhengting absentmindedly picked up a cracker from the plate examined it thoroughly and proceeded to take the tiniest bite of it, then he was back on his feet again analyzing basic kitchen appliances with his intense stare, the cracker completely forgotten in his hand. When Linong tried to suggest, that he should come with him to the infirmary he shook his head vehemently saying that ‘Dr Nongnong shouldn’t worry so much because of him’.

Linong still tried to convince him otherwise, but he couldn’t make the boy come with him anywhere. He quickly tried to check over his pupils and his blood pressure when he stopped him from sticking his hand into a toaster. He decided it would be fine: someone just always had to monitor him during the next day. Of course, if the captain allowed him to stay. It didn’t seem like a concussion, it just had to be some mild sedative or just the shock. It would wear off with time, or if not, then Linong can still force him to the infirmary.

Worrying about Zhengting had a positive effect on Linong: it took his mind off of the mission. So when the captain with an eager and frightened Xikan and Linkai at his side, had barged into the mess hall with quick steps halting suddenly as he rested his eyes on the newcomer, Linong was surprised at first, but relief immediately followed after. Zhangjing tentatively asked about Ziyi and Yanjun, but Xukun dismissed him.

“They are fine” he said his stare didn’t leaving Zhengting. “So you need a ride to the Blue Moon. What are you, a companion with a bad sense of business, who works in the casinos there and let himself be abducted?”

“No, sir” the man shook his pretty head quickly. “I don’t work in a casino, we don’t have casinos in our planet. And people usually say I am a good companion, but they’re my brothers, so they might be lying.”

Linong could tell that Xikan and Linkai had a hard time keeping straight face at the last sentence, but once Xukun looked at them, they both swallowed heavily.

“Captain” Linong said tentatively reaching out for their furious leader. “I think we should help him. Please, let him stay.”

“And what if he is just lying to us, huh?” Xukun snapped at him angrily. Linong could see Zhengting visibly flinch from the harsh tone, even though the yell wasn’t exactly directed at him. Zhangjing seemed to notice too, going to the boy’s side immediately, rubbing his back for a little sense of comfort. “Do I need to remind all of you that we are on a very time-sensitive mission that needs our focus at all times?”

Yanchen’s eyebrows furrowed. “The last time I checked we haven’t been on that high alert”

“Well, check again, bro!” Xukun was about to go on another tirade, when Ziyi’s voice could been heard from the speakers. Zhenging let out a sudden yell and covered his ears, surprising the people in the room with them. Sure, the speakers were loud but not **that** loud…

“We secured the package. Captain, can you come and take a look?” Xukun walked to the communication panel at dining room’s wall and pressed the button. His clipped voice resonated through the halls of the ship.

“No need. Yanjun, Xingjie, do a full sweep of the ship asap! Everyone, prepare for lift-off!”

“A full sweep?” Linkai said disbelieving. “I thought we are in a hurry!”

“And risk someone leeching on us? No, thank you” Xukun dismissed him effectively, sending him and Xikan away with a look. “What are you still doing here? I said prepare for lift-off! Xikan, do a biometric sweep of the ship too!”

Xikan, Linkai and Yanchen hurried away quickly to do their respective jobs.

“You…” the captain said turning his attention back to Zhengting. “are leaving this ship, come on.” He grabbed the boy by his elbow and dragged him back towards the door. Zhangjing and Linong shared a look and hurried after him worriedly.

Once they entered the cargo bay, Zhenghao practically jumped away from the huge crates safely stored at the dark back corner a cargo bay as he knew the captain wouldn’t appreciate him lurking around the crates.

“Haohao! I told you no one goes anywhere near the crates, was I not clear enough?” he said stopping suddenly, his grip still like iron around Zhengting’s paper thin wrists. Zhangjing gasped as he walked nearer to boy: the crates had been opened and Zhenghao was examining the things inside of it.

Linong’s attention was on Zhengting though. The strange boy stopped struggling against the captain’s iron grip, going completely motionless. His gaze lost its sharp as he stared into the empty space in front of him.

“Sorry Kunkun ge, I won’t go near them again. But I have never seen such capsules before and Xikan said he didn’t either!”

“You better keep that promise, this is not a joke, Zhenghao.”

Ziyi entered the cargo bay with Xingjie and Yanjun at his side.

“We finished, all decks are clear, Kunkun.”

“Right” Xukun said starting again towards the doors, but he seemed to encounter an obstacle: namely Zhengting wouldn’t move. The captain’s force on his wrist seemed to shake him out his stupor and Linong had to acknowledge that the boy was much stronger than he seemed.

“Please, Captain Kunkun, don’t throw me out!” he turned to Xukun, eyes desperate. The eager look had seemed to throw off the captain’s resolve for a moment but he clearly wasn’t convinced and yet he seemed to still struggle against Zhengting’s firm stand somehow and the two of them remained unmoving. “Please, please, I have to find my brothers! They can’t go on without me! Your crew is my last hope! Please! We can even pay you, once we are back together again!”

“I am sure you will find another ship, we don’t have the capacity for a passenger right now!” 

“Xukun” Zhangjing started silently. His eyes had lifted from the crates at last, but his voice sounded powerless which was odd considering his usual blubbering personality. “You can’t throw him out.”

“He won’t last a minute if we leave him here” Yanjun said suddenly. “I thought this team never murders innocent people.”

Even though Yanjun was right, Linong still thought that was a low-blow for the captain. 

Another falter in Xukun’s stance, but he quickly recovered again, tugging on Zhengting wrist to make him move.

What happened after this was something inexplainable for Linong. Zhengting seemed to give in to the Xukun’s tugging which had surprised the captain so much that he almost let the boy’s hand slide out of his grip, grabbing onto his hand instead of his sleeves and the two of them took two quick steps towards the door, Xukun already reaching for the control panel to open it. But then, suddenly Xukun’s hand halted and slowly looked back at the boy, his features ever so slowly softening and then, suddenly letting go. He pressed a different button on the control panel.

“Gui, we are ready. Let’s leave this godforsaken place.”

Zhengting’s smile was so radiant that Linong had felt momentarily blinded.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Captain!” he said happily. “If there’s anything I can help with, I will do it, you just have to ask! I am not that useless!”

“You won’t do anything. You stay in the passenger’s quarters, Zhangjing will assign you a cabin. When we call you for dinner, you can come to the mess hall, but otherwise everything on this ship is strictly off-limits! Especially the cargo area, the bridge or the engine room. Is that understood?”

Zhengting nodded eagerly. Linong had a suspicion that he would have agreed on any terms the captain could have said at this moment.

“Then Zhangjing will show you to your room. And for God's sake, give him a pair of shoes!” Zhangjing just nodded at Xukun and walked away with the boy in tow as they could feel the engine rumbling and the ship slowly ascending from solid ground. The lift-off was as smooth as always: Linkai and Yanchen had been a great team and they knew the Papillon better than anyone expect maybe Xukun.

This was as long as Linong could stand it: he walked a little closer to the crates, curiously taking a peek. The smooth, pristine white surface of the container inside had seemed like it was brand new, not snatched from outer space and stored in a restaurant’s back garden for a week. It had a shape of a cuboid with its length around two meters and width and height of less then a meter. The top of the container – it was more like a large capsule to Linong – had a single straight line running down on its length, he guessed it was where it opened. And it also had an operation pad, but the symbols and the buttons on it looked completely unfamiliar to the medic.

“We were told to expect an attack, yet no one bothered us while we were getting back here” Linong heard Ziyi explain in a hushed voice to Xingjie as the captain’s mind also seemed preoccupied by the capsules in front of them. “Kun’s paranoia is pretty justified this time, considering… never mind…”

“We could ask Xikan to try to open it, if we are interested what’s in it” Zhenghao contemplated. “He said he would like to try”

To Linong’s surprise Xukun just kept silent staring at the intricate symbol on the crate. The medic had no idea what to take of this and looked around catching Ziyi’s worried look fixated on the captain and fleeting towards the passenger’s quarters. Linong could tell he was thinking about Zhangjing too. He also seemed to have noticed the mood shift in the always jovial quartermaster.

Call Linong crazy but he always had his suspicions about him and the captain. The only thing he knew was that they were on the Jakuta where they met Ziyi and Yanjun and the four of them escaped together, but while the other two sometimes -and rather reluctantly, when someone recognized Ziyi, or something made Yanjun remember about one of the many places he had been before - talked about their past, Xukun and Zhangjing were rather secretive about their lives before that. The only thing that Linong noticed about them is that they are surprisingly well-versed in modern medicine and while he can bamboozle the other crew members with his genetic research, the two of them never seemed too surprised about Linong’s new observations. They were clearly more comfortable and better educated than the rest of the crew, even though they made sure no one feels inferior to them for that. Well, they were smarter than everyone, expect maybe him and Xikan whom they were both were renegates of the Nexum Prime’s research center itself and nothing in the galaxy can top that.

“What is this supposed to be?” Yanchen asked confused. They all were so deep in their own thoughts that they missed the arrival of their technicians. This meant they safely entered hyperspace: that was a huge relief for Linong. Zhangjing also returned and stood silently at the entrance of the upper level, on the catwalk looking down on the team in silent reverence.

“I can find out, maybe” Xikan said, already tapping away on his tablet trying to run a diagnostic on the crate when Xukun stilled his hands.

“No, leave it alone” he said, voice oddly thin. “No one is allowed even close to the crates without my say so. That’s an order.” The crew nodded silently off put by their captain’s unusually harsh tone. Zhangjing didn’t even react: his thoughtful eyes still seemed to bore into Xukun’s soul and Linong now was completely sure, that the captain was avoiding the elder’s gaze. “Yanjun. You stay with our guest. He will be your responsibility. Don’t lose sight of him!”

“What?” Yanjun complained angrily. “Why do I have to babysit?”

“A minute ago, you were oh so keen on saving his life, what happened now? For what y'all have been telling me the biggest danger to him is his own stupid self. Chop-chop and be the hero you could never been before! You are completely useless for the rest of the week anyway.”

That was quite unfair and Yanjun had clearly had taken the offense and stalked past Zhangjing towards the passenger area. Linong knew that Xukun would never had said something so cruel if he wouldn’t be so agitated with everything else going on, but still felt bad for the gunman. His own concerns seemed to reflect on every member of the crew.

Just what did they get themselves into this time?


	3. Chapter 2: Xingjie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We shouldn’t get involved any further than this, Xingjie. It’s too dangerous and I’m not risking the life of the crew. We deliver the crates to Ronghao, get our share of the money and never look back. Isn’t this what all of us want? You wanted to buy yourself a little settlement on Eidara, didn’t you? Elope there with your man and take in the rest of the Gouran Gang if they want to stay with you? And I finally want to buy this ship for good from Fen-ge, I already promised him his money. This matter is not our concern.”
> 
> “But what good the money is for us, if we can’t spend it freely? With every single time, we step away and do nothing the Nexum’s power will grow. I think that you know exactly what’s in those crates and you know that you shouldn’t give it to the Nexum Prime.”
> 
> Xukun continues to be a stubborn git, but his crew still loves him.

“We have to talk” Xingjie cornered the captain once the Papillon’s crew dispersed to do their own things. Xukun immediately took off towards his cabin ignoring Zhangjing’s call of his name, but it is harder to push Xingjie away.

“I thought the point of being an outlaw is that we don’t have to do anything we don’t want to” Xukun joked lamely but Xingjie was having none of it. It has been three years since he, along with Linkai and Yanchen had joined the crew of the Papillon and if there’s one thing that Xingjie could tell so far is that Xukun is not the rough space pirate that his reputation builds him up to be. During these three years he gave a home and a job to both Linong and Xikan even though they were obviously from the Nexum Prime and every single outlaw would have tried to extort the fabulous rewards for their heads. He never once took a job that would have lead him into taking advantage of the poor and not to mention how much he had help the Sironians after the tragedy.

But this job has obviously made the captain questioning his own morals and Xingjie could clearly see that.

“Xukun, you clearly know more than you let on and please, don’t try to act like you don’t. It is obvious for everybody who Ronghao’s buyer is and yet here we are delivering something probably invaluable to the tyrants’ hands. They really want these things.”

Xukun entered his cabin and sighed sitting down at his desk, slowly taking off his jacket and his gun holster from his belt.

“We shouldn’t get involved any further than this, Xingjie. It’s too dangerous and I’m not risking the life of the crew. We deliver the crates to Ronghao, get our share of the money and never look back. Isn’t this what all of us want? You wanted to buy yourself a little settlement on Eidara, didn’t you? Elope there with your man and take in the rest of the Gouran Gang if they want to stay with you? And I finally want to buy this ship for good from Fen-ge, I already promised him his money. This matter is not our concern.”

“But what good the money is for us, if we can’t spend it freely? With every single time, we step away and do nothing the Nexum’s power will grow. I think that you know exactly what’s in those crates and you know that you shouldn’t give it to the Nexum Prime.”

“I don’t know what’s in the crates” Xukun said forcefully. He paused, but Xingjie could tell that he has more to say. The captain opened his desks drawer and took out his leather-bound notepad and a pen. Xingjie was always astonished how the captain even got those things in this age when no-one used anything but tablets. Xingjie couldn’t even tell the last time he had used handwriting. 

“But I do have a guess” Xukun’s voice shook Xingjie out of his reveries forcing him back to the conversation. Xingjie waited for him to continue watching as the captain started scribbling away in his notepad nervously. Suddenly Xukun’s eyes snapped up and locked into Xingjie’s concerned eyes. “And if it is what I think it is, then I don’t want those on this ship any longer than it is absolutely necessary. And please, believe me. You don’t want it either.”

Realising that there’s no reasoning with the other, Xingjie left the cabin and headed for the lounge. He wasn’t surprised to see Ziyi there, sitting at the large panorama window looking out into the endless depths and yet nothing of hyperspace while slowly slipping on a can of beer.

“I take that your talk didn’t go well” he said raising an unopened can towards the older one. Xingjie exhaled heavily and took the beer from Ziyi’s hands.

“You knew him longer than I do” he said. “I should have realized that if you don’t know what’s going on, I won’t either.”

“And Zhangjing wouldn’t say a word either” Yanjun said entering with a defeated slope to his shoulders and slipping into one of the armchairs casually. “In fact, he is not talking at all, it starts to freak me out.”

“Shouldn’t you be staying with your our new pal?”

Yanjun rolled his eyes.

“It’s fine. He has fallen asleep. I think Nongnong is taking advantage of him as we speak, trying to examine him. He is really against shoes for some reason though.”

“And you left them alone?” Xingjie gasped.

“Oh, please. As if he can be any harm to us” Yanjun shrugged again. “No one actually believes that he is a threat, don’t we?”

“I guess not” Xingjie sighed. Then a thought striking him, he smirked at the gunman. “I am surprised about you, actually.”

“Me?” Yanjun raised an eyebrow. “We have dangerous alien tech in our cargo bay, a government job disguised as a heist to fulfill and a man child who is the luckiest kidnapping victim ever. I mean seriously, how can be someone so clueless yet managing to escape from human traffickers? And you are surprised about me.”

“Well, I never said I don’t think about those things, but you are not acting like you usually do” Xingjie explained. “I might be a serious monogamist, but even I think that Zhengting is gorgeous. And yet, you, infamous playboy in the galaxy are not flirting with him.” 

Yanjun groaned tiredly while Ziyi was laughing out loud. Xingjie was happy to hear that sound: at least, he could momentarily disperse the first mate’s bad mood.

He was worried about Zhangjing, they all were, to tell the truth.

“He seemed… rather sad. Zhangjing. Like he had just lost someone” Ziyi said. “What do you think those crates could be to make Xukun and Jing ge acting so weird?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore” Yanjun shrugged. Xingjie offered him the beer but he declined. Ziyi once told Xingjie that Yanjun had never taken a sip of alcohol since Jakuta, but Xingjie liked to try and test it anyway now and again. “Do you think Xikan will try and figure out those crates anyway?”

“I think he is doing that since the moment we entered hyperspace.” Ziyi chuckled. “And frankly, I am curious too. I want to know what’s in there.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. As they were sitting around, drinking and playing card games, the navigator ran towards them from the direction of the bridge, tablet in hand with an excited Zhenghao in tow.

“OK, technically, I didn't break Xukun’s orders” Xikan said quickly. “I didn't go anywhere near the crates. I just used our remote sensors in the cargo bay. I didn't even leave the bridge for that, so I was really obedient.”

“Xikan!” Ziyi stopped the navigator from ranting any further. “Why are you telling us this? What did you find?”

“The biometric sensors and the radiation sensors found nothing at all during the sweep which seemed odd to me, so I ran an electromagnetic field test and I noticed a few unexpected glitches around the crates and I realized something. What if I can’t see anything because the pulses are in a different space?”

Xikan looked at them excitedly but it seemed like none of them reacted the way he expected. Xingjie shared a look with Ziyi and Yanjun and had seen the same thing on their faces as he himself felt: confusion and a little amusement.

“Guys, the crates are communicating with each other through the subspace.” Xikan said tapping away on his pad excitedly. “There is a constant flow of encrypted information between each crate, like an open channel. You can’t disturb it, you can’t break it with anything, it’s marvelous! It’s like an unbreakable bond. I wonder what source of information flow requires this level of stability. Maybe these are parts of a supercomputer that is computing the meaning of life or the coordinates to the center of the universe or something. The possibilities are endless!”

Yanjun’s brows had furrowed even further.

“Isn't that dangerous to the ship? Clogging up the sensors and whatnot” he asked worriedly.

Xikan’s smile had faded from his face.

“Yeah, this kinda means that we are blind on the ship. There are little electromagnetic pulses all around the ship. Not as periodic and everything as it is between the random EMF generated here and there basically makes our sensors useless, since everything is based on them.”

“Did you tell this to the captain, Xikan?” Xingjie asked.

“Not yet. I just found out and I was kind of worried what he would say about me fiddling with the cargo” he confessed guiltily.

“Don’t worry, I will tell him” Ziyi said to the navigator. “We don’t have to worry just yet about this. We had examined the ship quite thoroughly before we left Setada, there is nothing unusual here that we wouldn't know about.”

Xingjie knew that Ziyi was right but being this blind on their own ship had unsettled him very much. Yanjun muttered something about dinner being ready soon and he had to collect Zhengting, while Ziyi and Xikan went off towards the captain’s cabin. Xingjie used that moment of silence to collect himself before he decided to move as well towards the mess hall.

 

Dinners were held on very high regard on the board of the Papillon. This was the only time Xukun allowed everyone to abandon their posts: otherwise the essential parts of the ship – the engine room and the bridge – was never left unguarded. But at dinnertime the whole crew would sit around their big table, usually together with their passengers and eat whatever Zhangjing was able cook up for them.

Despite the quartermaster’s sour mood, he delivered his job perfectly. At Setada, Zhangjing had went to pick up some “surprise ingredients”, he claimed. He said that he was tired of feeding nutrient bars for the crew, so Xingjie, the supervisor of the supply run had agreed to pick up some chicken meat and a few other supplies that he normally wouldn't have agreed to. The surprise ingredients had turned out to be fruits and whipped cream, which Xingjie had sighed but said nothing.

Xukun’s expression told everything when he was presented with a hot dish of kung pao chicken at dinner.

“Woah, Jing ge!” Linkai gasped looking at the quartermaster gratefully. “This looks amazing!”

For the first time since they left Setada, a small smile appeared on Zhangjing’s face. It was a welcomed sight for everyone in the crew. Zhengting seemed to sense the mood shift because his radiant smile had also appeared as he sat silently between Nongnong and Yanjun at the table, his intense look fixated in the general direction of Zhangjing. Linong had sent a few worried looks towards the passenger as the boy was still not eating even though everyone has digged in their food eagerly.

“I hope we won’t get too wasteful with fancy meals like this” Xukun said finally with resignation sitting between Linkai and Zhenghao with a solemn look on his face. Xingjie thought he should just relax finally: sometimes they should be allowed to eat a proper meal or two. “Everyone, eat your portion, we don’t put food into the garbage in this ship, you know that.”

Xingjie chuckled hearing the captain’s words, since it was obvious it wasn’t meant for the crew, who knew this very well. Xingjie’s eyes had met Yanchen’s, who seemed to notice the same thing. He could almost hear Yanchen’s usual mocking voice sing-song: “Our Kunkun has a heart after all.” 

It seemed to work though: after some time, Zhengting had also grabbed his fork and put some food in his mouth. After the first tentative bite, he seemed a little more eager and he was the first one to finish with his food.

“Zhangjing ge” he said smiling at the cook. “It’s the best thing I have ever eaten!”

Zhangjing chuckled.

“It’s not that much of a big deal, but you are kind to say that, dear.”

Zhangjing’s seemingly better mood had seemed to break the ice around the table. Xingjie could still feel the tension in everyone, but at least he could finally see how Linong started up a conversation with Ziyi, while at the other side of the table Xikan was busy telling all kinds of theories about the Vortex to Zhenghao. Yanchen was busy daring Linkai to slurp up all his remaining pasta and the bad mood started to disappear. It was only Xukun, who sat at the head of the table, still in deep thoughts, in all seriousness as if a dark cloud surrounding him.

At the end of the dinner, when dishes were put away and cleaning duty assigned, Zhangjing had stopped everyone from moving around. He walked over to the freezer and got out an artfully crafted cheesecake and placed it in front of the captain. Xukun looked up at the quartermaster in quite a shock. Xingjie realized that this was the first time the two of them made eye contact today.

“Did you think we would forget?” the older man asked the captain. “Happy Birthday, Captain!”

The rest of the crew also smiled and told their greetings and finally, a fond smile appeared on Xukun’s face.

“What’s that?” An exclamation from the other end of the table had disturbed their quiet scene. Zhengting wasn’t sitting on his chair anymore, more like squatting on it in alert, his yet again bare feet on the top of the seat, hands gripping the back of the chair and the edge of the table, looking at the white strawberry filled masterpiece with fright. Xingjie was surprised how quickly the boy moved into this position and the look on Linong face said that he was also worried: the drugs didn’t seem to fade from the boy’s body.

“A cake?” Linkai answered shocked.

“And why do you have that?” Zhengting continued questioning sharply.

“Because that’s what you have, when someone has a birthday?” Yanchen said confused. How this concept could frighten the boy so much? “Do you not have this on your planet?”

“Why do you have so many different foods? At my home, we only eat energy bars. Do your bodies need different nutrients than mine does?”

“No, probably not” Zhangjing smiled. He cut up the cake, giving everyone a slice. “But you don’t eat food just to get energy. You eat it because it feels good” he finished offering a small slice to the confused passenger. “I guess we need to show you a lot of things, mister.”

Zhengting tentatively tried it and he absolutely loved it. Xingjie guessed that little Mr. Nutrients must have a sweet tooth because he practically inhaled the cake after the first bite, making noises that was considered quite disturbing, if anyone was interested in the gunman’s opinion. 

“Do you have a database on food?” he turned to Zhangjing once he was finished.

“Well, no.” Zhangjing shook his head. “But you could always try an Encyclopedia, if you are that interested.”

Zhengting walked over to Zhangjing and took his hands in his, looking at the quartermaster with a dead serious face.

“I would love that, thank you” he said. Zhangjing just looked at him confused, but then he picked up his tablet from the kitchen counter and opened up the book for the strange man. Zhengting immediately started reading it, walking back to his seat starting from the letter A.

“Light reading much?” Yanchen noted sarcastically.

“I don’t mind, I like reading” Zhengting smiled looking up at Yanchen. “I am very good at it, actually” he turned his attention back to the tablet, his eyes skipping though the letters at a very quick speed. “You know, my brothers and I celebrate birthdays with telling them why we are thankful to have him in our life and giving him well wishes. For example, I cannot thank you enough for not leaving me behind and I wish happiness for you and all your loved ones!”

“That’s a great tradition” Linong said. “I will do it, I guess.” The doctor turned towards Xukun, giving him a smile. “Captain, I thank you for giving me a home and I wish that we can stay together like this, for a much longer time!”

“I wish that too.” Xukun smiled softly at the boy.

“Oh-ho!” Yanjun smiled. “This is what I do best! Life without you, Captain is like a pencil…” 

“Please don’t, Yanjun!” Xukun smiled. “You don’t have to say it, thank you.

“Spoilsport” Yanjun pouted mockingly.

“Oh, me next!” Yanchen smiled. “Xukun, thank you for entrusting this baby with me, I love every day I spend here with all of you.”

“I couldn’t imagine anyone else taking care of my ship, thank you” Xingjie thought that technically this wasn’t his ship, but he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere of the room.

“Aaaw…” Linkai said while Xukun just smiled at the boys’ silliness. “I thank you for not leaving me alone in that bar fight on Haradria two weeks ago.”

“I was tempted, you annoying brat!” Xukun laughed, pulling Linkai into a rough side-hug.

“And I thank you for keeping these two on a leash when I am too tired” Xingjie rolled his eyes motioning towards Yanchen and Linkai. He loved them with all his heart ever since they met when they were kids, but Jeez, they could be a handful sometimes.

His statement was met with laughter.

“I thank you for taking me in when no one else would have done it” Xikan said in a tiny voice.

“Those stupid idiots, they had no idea what they were missing out.”

“That’s not fair, I don’t know what to say that you haven’t said already!” Zhenghao exclaimed. “So I’ll just thank you for saving my life again! That’s something one should never get tired of.”

“Haohao, what would I do without you…” Xukun squished the young teen’s cheeks fondly turning towards him.

“Well, Xukun” Ziyi said after some contemplation. “You know where I would be if haven’t met you. Thank you for giving me a second chance at life.”

The mood turned a little down after the first mate’s words, but they all understood it.

“And what about you, Jing-ge?” Linong asked, smiling at the quartermaster who had fiddling with the cake on his plate silently.

“I wish…” he started. “I wish that you will never forget who you were when we left on this journey of ours. I wish you to stay the same fantastic person, you have always been” Xukun’s smile had melted off his face and he looked at Zhangjing with an earnest look.

“I wish that too” he said in a tiny voice. The others had looked between the two of them like they were watching a tennis match, waiting to hear more, but they were disappointed: Zhangjing cleared his throat and told everyone to finish their cakes and ask if they want more. The crew obeyed silently.

“Zhangjing” Yanjun suddenly said breaking the eerie silence of the room, a smirk already appearing on his face. Xingjie immediately knew what will happen and raised a finger in warning.

“Don’t you dare!” But Yanjun ignored him. The others seemed to catch on and everyone was shaking their head.

“I know this will sound cheesy…” he continued ignoring everyone.

“Lin Yanjun!”

“I swear to God, if you finish that sentence…”

“We’re warning you!”

“… But you are the gratest!” Yanjun laughed out loud, while everyone else around the table let out a united groan.

“Yanjun, I am goin to kill you.” Linkai shook his head. “In your sleep. And no one here will protest, believe me.”

“That’s it. I am making an executive order. Yanjun is not allowed to speak anymore.” Xukun said strictly but alas, chuckling lightly. “It’s for your own health.”

“It’s for everybody’s health!” Yanchen said smiling. The others laughed and agreed.

Zhengting stayed silent though, just looking at Yanjun with his usual, contemplating gaze.

 

After dinner was cleared up and everyone dispersed towards their cabins - or in Yanjun’s case, a spare passenger cabin, so he could keep an eye on Zhengting (which seemed useless as the man was utterly immersed in Zhangjing’s tablet reading the letter E in the Encyclopedia) – Xingjie headed back to his quarter as well. He was on night shift tonight, so he wasn’t allowed to sleep just yet, but he had downloaded his mail when they were out of hyperspace and he had seen a message from Zhou Rui he wanted to watch first.

Zhou Rui had apparently visited Eidara to look for work opportunities to integrate what was left of the Sironian nation back into Nexum society, with not much success. Xingjie’s heart always squeezed painfully when he thought about the other man: his place should be here, on the ship, at his side. But the stubborn man was always too loyal for his home world, which Xingjie thought was rather undeserving.

“I know how much you love this place.” Zhuo Rui said on the video message. “I went to see the obsidian obelisk because Yankai was curious. We didn’t have much time though, we promised Mubo ge to get back to help him with this big shipment coming in tomorrow and a Nexum battlecruiser was orbiting the planet as well, so we had to get back to Haradria to not raise suspicions anyway. I really want to come back here with you someday. We can go on a holiday” he smiled, putting a strand of loose hair back behind his ears. Xingjie couldn’t help but think how beautiful he is, even like this, so tired, so worn out. He wanted to be there with him, caress his face, kiss away the dark circles under his eyes, just fold him into his embrace shielding him from all the worries of the world outside. “I miss you and the boys, I love you all so much. I hope I will see all of you once you finished with this business of yours. I hope you will finish quickly.”

"I really hope that too, my love" Xingjie thought. "But I am getting less sure that it will be that easy."

He sighed and pressed the playback button on his tablet. He had time to watch the message again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, soft hours for Captain Cai Xukun because I don't want him to come across as a b*tthole.
> 
> Writing fake science is the cringiest thing ever... subspace... grrrrr! But I did it! \\(^-^)/
> 
> Thank you so much for all the love you gave this fic so far! I swear plot is happening in the next chapters, which I am posting very soon, I am just waiting the OK sign from my beta, who is awesome.


	4. Intermission: Justin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _We mustn’t be afraid_ Chengcheng told them. _Just think about what would Zhengting ge do? He wouldn’t let us panic._
> 
> Justin had thought Chengcheng was overly confident about feeling like they could do anything in the situation, considering that the two of them was just as incapable of moving as Justin was.
> 
>  
> 
> Justin has never been alone before in his life and he never ever wants to be again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION!
> 
> I think I am ought to warn you for **triggers** in this chapter, for **kidnapping and description of physical and emotional pain**. Is that a thing? I just thought I would gave a fair warning. Feel free to skip it. The first paragraph is completely safe to read, maybe you will understand more like that about the Yuehua boys in the future.  
>  Not much is happening in this short intermission chapter but I will sum it up for you in the end notes. Please, take care of yourself!
> 
> Please, let me know if I should flag other things in this chapter on any other chapters.

Justin was getting used to the dark by now. He didn’t know how much time went by, he didn’t know where he was. He couldn’t move his body, as if he was asleep, but his mind was wide awake. He didn’t remember how he got into this situation: his last memory was that he was playing the bottle cap game with Quanzhe in the lair, while listening to Chengcheng playing on the piano. He remembered complaining to Yixing ge about being bored, that they should give them something new to learn. But today’s exercise was for the older boys only, they would be practicing their glitches. Zhengting ge had felt bad for him: he promised to ask Yixing ge about dancing once they are back. Yixing ge always had the best assignments for them: he brought them instruments to play, science books to read in different languages, but the best part was when they were allowed outside into the playroom. Sure, the doctors would make them lift weights and run on useless machines, always tapping away on their tablets, but they would also make them do fun things like archery or wall-climbing. Justin’s favorite thing was when Yixing ge would dismiss all the other doctors and they would have some fun. He used to put on music for them, teaching them how to dance. Justin lived for those moments, when he and his brothers would move to the same beat, their bodies in as complete sync as their minds always were.

But Zhengting ge and the others never got back from their assignment and all Justin could remember is that their room’s door was blasted in, he got a quick look outside, where the nice security guard was lying motionless on the floor. He remembered not hearing his heartbeat and panicking before everything went black.

Once he regained consciousness everything was still black, and he could only feel two minds instead of six. This was the only thing that lessened his panic, that Chengcheng and Quanzhe was still there with him at least, but the loss of the others was frightening. How was he supposed to know what to do without Zhengting's soft voice telling him in the back of his mind?

 _We mustn’t be afraid_ Chengcheng told them. _Just think about what would Zhengting ge do? He wouldn’t let us panic._

Justin had thought Chengcheng was overly confident about feeling like they could do anything in the situation, considering that the two of them was just as incapable of moving as Justin was.

 _Can you use your glitch?_ Justin remembered Quanzhe asking. Justin knew the question wasn’t meant for him: Yixing ge forbidden him to try using it. It wasn’t that Justin did the things he did on purpose, he just had a hard time controlling it when he was feeling sad or someone frightened him. For example, like he was right now. But surprisingly he didn’t feel that familiar annoying humming in his mind as he used to when he accidentally used his glitch, so he guessed whatever is blocking them from the outside world is blocking their glitches too.

 _How would I know?_ Chengcheng snapped, his voice annoyed. _I don’t see anything that I can move, since I don’t see anything at all! We are useless like this._

Soon, the fear was replaced with agitation to do something and Justin was just about to explode from boredom… no, not that. Yixing ge would scold him for using that phrase. He was just feeling extremely bored, when suddenly everything turned for the worse.

Because he lost the connection to Chengcheng and Quanzhe too.

Suddenly, the dark disappeared, Justin’s senses had awakened painfully.

Too much light, too much noise, too many smells. Even the air seemed unfamiliar and irritating on his skin and he was so-so alone, he couldn’t bear it. No Chengcheng, no Quanzhe, no Wenjun, no Xinchun, no Zeren. No Zhengting to calm him down.

Suddenly his glitch was back and it was back with a full force. Justin tried to control it, but he could feel every cell of his brain humming at him, his whole body buzzing from energy. This was bad, worse than it ever was.

Zhengting ge… Zhengting ge wasn’t here to calm him down. All he could see was unfamiliar people in unfamiliar uniforms and masks surrounding him, shouting around in a language unfamiliar to Justin, machines around the room going off loudly even for the ears of a normal human, not to mention to someone like Justin.

It was too much energy, Justin started to feel the pain, searing through every crook of his body, pain like he never felt before.

Zhengting ge… Zhengting ge might be dead. All his brothers might be dead.

The pain didn’t wane, it seemed to intensify with every second passing away until Justin couldn’t hold it anymore: he send a last, desperate cry through his muted bonds towards his brothers and then he let go.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, how much time he needed to work himself down after the glitch going off silently crying, but it seemed like forever. He heard tentative footsteps around him, but he was too exhausted to look up from his crouching position on the ground.

The person had walked closer, Justin could feel his odd smell intensify, the light seeping through his tightly shut eyes dim as the figure bent over him.

“Fascinating” a rough, deep sounding man said in a breathless voice. Justin didn’t have any energy to stay alert anymore and as he was slipping into the calming darkness of unconsciousness he could hear the man say:

“We just became gods today, gentlemen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to sum it up, Justin has no idea where he is and it's not a nice feeling. He can't move or use his mysterious "glitch". At least at first Chengcheng and Quanzhe is with him, he can hear them in his mind talking but then he lost the connection to them too. He is afraid and alone, and something really bad happened and the bad guys are really happy to have Justin.


	5. Chapter 3: Yanchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Anyway, back to the discussion here. See, Cap?” Yanchen turned towards Xukun. “Even Zhengting can tell that it’s a serious problem.” 
> 
> “And this is how you want to convince me that your emergency stop is necessary? With Zhengting?” Xukun raised an eyebrow, gesturing at the boy standing right beside him. Zhengting, offended, had hit the captain’s shoulder. It must have been a stronger hit than it initially looked, because Xukun ended up groaning playfully, gently caressing his wounded arm. “Just how on Earth you do that? My whole arm got numb!” 
> 
> “You deserved it!” Zhengting pouted. “I am smarter than you think, you know?” 
> 
> “Of course!” Xukun laughed disbelievingly. 
> 
> Yanchen just wants everyone to survive the next few days.

“So theoretically, if we don’t convert the residual energy of the generators…” 

“It would overheat and start malfunctioning.” 

“Yes… but how did you know that?” 

“I learned physics, of course!” 

Yanchen couldn’t believe his ears. Just where in the seven hells this guy came from? 

Zhengting had absolutely no idea about the most common things, like what a potato is or how you use a thermostat, but knew a disturbingly lot about physics, biology, math, computer programming and surprisingly – according to Linkai, who was a 21th century hip-hop enthusiast – pre space age music. 

The strange boy – man, actually: according to Nongnong’s quick scanner, the passenger was 25 years old. He sure didn’t look older than a teenager. A tall, way too skinny, way too pretty teenage boy. No, forget the last thing, Yanchen didn’t say that, you said that! – had seemed to be less and less amazed with trivial things around the ship as the days of their journey went by. According to him, the Encyclopedia helped, which he gave back to Zhangjing the next morning at breakfast with a bright smile on his face, thanking him for something interesting to read. Two nights ago, Linong had given him some chemistry books because he didn’t understand why the tetanus was needed when Zhenghao’s hand bled over bruise he got on a rusty cover panel in the engine room and today he talked about advanced reaction and carbon rings with the doctor enthusiastically. Yanchen couldn’t help but giggle at the scandalized look appearing on Yanjun’s face after hearing Zhengting’s comment about the Encyclopedia and Nongnong’s super boring book about chemical reactions and immediately offered him his book reader to browse through his endless amount of travel diaries. Ever since then Yanchen had often heard the two of them discuss about the most recent thing Zhengting has read, asking Yanjun if he had seen this or that. Yanjun, who was infamous about not really talking to people he didn’t know or didn’t trust, was surprisingly accommodating with their curious passenger, patiently answering his questions and painfully explaining his own puns, when Zhengting didn’t understand him. 

“You know, it’s funny because dye can mean coloring and die like someone losing their life. So you understand now? Yesterday I ate a little bit of food coloring. The doctor says I’m fine, but I feel like I have just dyed inside a little.” Yanjun repeated his awful cold joke once again as they were sitting in the lounge area of the ship. 

“But it’s not possible to die inside a little, Yanjun. Or is it? Nongnong, can you die inside a little?” he asked turning towards the silent doctor who pretended to be reading his book, while in reality he was busy trying not to laugh out loud at the ridiculous scene in front of him. 

“It just a phrase, gosh Zhengting…” Yanjun shook his head. “Nevermind, I am done wasting my humor on you.” 

“No, please don’t!” Zhengting said honestly upset. “Sometimes you do say funny things you know?” 

“Don’t encourage him” Xukun warned the boy, tapping away on a tablet absentmindedly. “He had never said a great joke in his life.” 

“Wow, you hurt me, Cap.” Yanjun said dramatically reaching for his heart. “Just because God was just showing off, when he made you so perfect, that doesn’t mean my love for you isn’t real.” 

“Now, you’re just making no sense” Xukun dismissed him. Yanchen giggled silently: it was a common thing on the Papillon to be at the crossfire of Yanjun’s flirting and even though everybody knew that, sometimes it was quite flattering, and no one was really immune to it, not even their fearless leader. 

It seemed like Zhengting had noticed the same thing too. 

“Oh, you are embarrassed!” he exclaimed with glee. 

“No, I’m not!” Xukun defended himself. 

“Yes, you are!” Zhengting smiled getting up to walk towards the captain. “You are a hard person to understand, captain, but now I had decoded your color code!” he said triumphantly as he playfully poked Xukun’s cheek with his index finger. 

Xukun just rolled his eyes at the boy, smiling at him almost fondly and slapped his finger away. They all started to get used to Zhengting’s load and unusual antiques by now. This was just it: the guy had no idea what does dying inside a little meant but talked about the “color coding of people”? They didn’t understand him, but that didn’t stop them from growing fond of him. Everyone at the Papillon had developed a little soft spot for their always surprising hitchhiker. 

It was almost comical how easily the naïve little traveler had wrapped them all around his little finger. He was actually quite attentive and perceptive towards all of them. He would squish Zhenghao's cheek when the other felt homesick or he would ask Linkai to tell him about races they've won when the boy was hit with his usual pang of melancholy or he would just walk up to a troubled Yanjun and smooth his furrowed eyebrows out with a single finger, walking away, leaving a stunned gunman behind, staring after him with a warm look and a soft smile. Yanchen's favorite moment was when he witnessed Zhengting making pancakes with Zhangjing, the quartermaster mentioning that it was actually Ziyi's favorite food and Zhengting had come out right and complimented him for being such a good husband. 

"Zhengting, I am not Ziyi's husband." 

"Are you not? Why not? You feel so much love for each other it's quite hard to see anything else when you are both in the room!" Yanchen remembered laughing out loud when hearing Zhangjing choke on nothing as he awkwardly tried to avoid answering. "People who love each other should get married, shouldn't they? Like Xingjie and his Zhou Rui!" 

Yanchen thought maybe Xingjie and Zhuo Rui were not the best examples for marital bliss in the galaxy, but Yanchen had to acknowledge that their love for each other is admirable and gave Zhengting credit for noticing this about his beloved honorary fake dad. 

Yanchen shook himself out of his reverie. Back to the situation at hand. They still need to fix this ship and Xukun seemed reluctant to discuss it. 

“Anyway, back to the discussion here. See, Cap?” Yanchen turned towards Xukun. “Even Zhengting can tell that it’s a serious problem.” 

“And this is how you want to convince me that your emergency stop is necessary? With Zhengting?” Xukun raised an eyebrow, gesturing at the boy standing right beside him. Zhengting, offended, had hit the captain’s shoulder. It must have been a stronger hit than it initially looked, because Xukun ended up groaning playfully, gently caressing his wounded arm. “Just how on Earth you do that? My whole arm got numb!” 

“You deserved it!” Zhengting pouted. “I am smarter than you think, you know?” 

“Of course!” Xukun laughed disbelievingly. 

“Kunkun, stop flirting and focus! This is basic physics, you can’t argue with that” Yanchen said tiredly. “Look, it’s not that much of a delay: we stop now, look for a planet where we can buy a decent power converter I fix the hyperdrive in one or two hours, tops. We are way ahead of schedule as it is. We will be at Ronghao’s by morning, just in time.” 

“Couldn’t it wait until we finish with this goddam business first? We are dropping off Zhengting on the Blue Moon later anyway, it’s not that much of a delay.” 

“The only reason this hyperjump isn’t super risky already, because I am a genius and my baby is a survivor. But Xukun…” Yanchen stopped shifting a little uncomfortably. “If we get ourselves into some trouble we won’t have any chance to run away.” 

Xukun sighed. He slowly got up and walked over to the comm panel. 

“Xikan” he said after pressing the button to the speakers at the bridge. “Can you check where is the nearest point we can safely exit the hyperspace?” 

“Uhm… nowhere?” Xikan’s voice was heard from the speakers. “I mean, we are in the Third Ring already, everywhere is full of the Nexum in this area.” 

“Just… find a place where we can stop for maintenance, will you?” Xukun told Xikan. “And stop obsessing over the sub space channels! Nothing happened to the ship am I right? Quit worrying!” Sometimes Yanchen find Xukun’s ability to tell what they are all up to at any given moment frightening. It was true though: ever since Xikan noticed the little EMF glitches on the very first day of their journey, he has been barely sleeping trying to figure it out how they work without any success. The pulses seemed completely random, without any recognizable pattern: the worst nightmare for a coder, who wants to see an algorithm in everything. Nongnong tried console him with the fact that there were things, forces of nature that just cannot be mapped out. The Chaos Theory, he called it. 

The captain turned off the comm panel and turned towards Ziyi, who have heard the conversation and quickly entered to see what was wrong. “Is there any arrest order out on us right now?” 

“Nothing more than the usual” Ziyi shook his head. “If I remember correctly, Qin Fen had smoothed that little hitch on Haradria over for us. The ship isn't flagged, we can probably port safely.” 

“Then we just have to lay low and do our business and then we will be on our way soon.” 

“Captain, we can exit in the Majorian System” Xikan’s tinny voice interrupted any worried protests from the crew. 

“Good, do it” Xukun commed quickly, pressing another button to reach the private quarters “Xingjie, do you know anyone in the Majorian System?” 

“The Whitefall Rally Race is in the Majorian’s second moon” Xingjie hummed through the comm from his cabin. “But they are unfriendly people and the race itself is a downright suicide ride. I wouldn’t expect much hospitality. And everyone speaks Cantonese there. If you can’t, they are not exactly friendly to you.” 

“Isn’t that what’s the Gouran Gang supposed to be the best at? Suicide races?” Ziyi raised an eyebrow at Yanchen, who had snorted jovially. 

“Sure. The legendary Xiao Gui is holding every race record possible there” he said smiling fondly. “Of course, the pilot is the legendary one, the fact that he had the best speeder in the history of illegal racing is never mentioned” he rambled on letting out a big sigh. As much as he didn’t miss the instability and misery of their lives as podracers, he still remembered his first baby fondly. The wonderful, beautiful and perfect Ghost. He still remembered going through Unification War ship wrecks and endless space garbage around Sironia with Xingjie to build the most perfect race speeder that ever rallied the galaxy. 

Of course, it was a relic of the past now. Actually, Yanchen had hold onto it long after they entered that business with Xukun but he eventually agreed to auction it off six months ago. Xingjie had given the money to Rui ge: the Sironian survivors could buy themselves a small sanctuary at the Haradrian Industrial District. 

“I have a guy here” Yanjun quipped up. 

“You have guys?” Ziyi raised a questioning eyebrow at the gunman. 

“Unlike you, I have life outside of this ship, you know?” Yanjun defended himself. 

“Sorry, let me correct myself” Ziyi smirked. “You have guys that are actually still willing to talk to you after you are done with them?” 

“Oh, quit it!” Yanjun rolled his eyes. “This is not like that! Dinghao and I are going way back, he is a friend. Well, he’s actually a circus owner, but he would help us find a cheap and fair seller.” 

“The language thing still might be a problem” Xukun pondered. 

“I can speak Cantonese” Zhengting said suddenly. 

“You do?” Xukun looked at him questioningly. “Since when?” 

“I think I learned it eight months ago, if you’re interested in knowing.” Zhengting said. “I would like to help!” 

Xukun gave a boy a thorough once over, trying to assess whether he can be entrusted with a job like that. The captain was always picky about who to send “out to the field” as Yanchen jokingly liked referring to it and passengers had never once made the cut. Once they had a tenant, who rented the Papillon’s little shuttle from them for seven months, living with them, as semi-part of the crew and yet, she wasn’t allowed to go on land for official Papillon business. An “ambassador”, Zhangjing liked to refer to her, a “companion” as Chengxiao liked to call herself and that was the generally accepted word all around the civilized galaxy. Or “whore”, as Xukun once said, angry at her for something that was still a mystery for the rest of the crew. At their next stop, Chengxiao packed her stuff and left the Papillon behind. 

But right now, Xukun seemed to seriously contemplate letting Zhengting go on a mission and that surprised Yanchen. 

Xukun looked at Yanjun. 

“Do you need him?” 

Yanjun shrugged. 

“I dunno, might be useful” he shrugged. “He really is smarter than you think.” 

“All right, I guess Zhengting is going too. Yanchen, please don’t go too extravagant, just be efficient, okay?” 

Just why does Xukun think so low of Yanchen? He should trust him more. 

“All right, Kunkun, we will be good boys and look out for each other” Yanchen mocked the captain again. “We will hold hands while crossing the street and we won’t talk to strangers just because they offer free candy for us from their shady lorries.” 

Xukun scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes. “Don’t make fun of me! I am just worried about you. Maybe Ziyi should go with you.” 

“Yeah, do I need to remind you that you have some apparently highly valuable cargo loaded to your ship that should be guarded and your first mate is a separatist general with a bounty on his head and oh, I don’t know.. that we are grown ass adults, right?” 

“I would like try how candy tastes” Zhengting wondered out loud. “Or chocolate! I couldn’t believe what Linkai said about it being the best thing ever.” 

Yanchen sighed. Well, at least two out of three were responsible adults. 

“You sure you want him?” he asked Yanjun. 

“Of course!” Yanjun answered without hesitation, causing the engineer to raise his hands in surrender. Zhengting would be the gunman’s responsibility anyway, so who was Yanchen to say anything. 

When they finally left hyperspace, Yanchen himself has started to get restless. As much as he liked the Papillon he couldn’t wait to set foot on solid ground. The Majorian was a huge blue gas giant, but many of his moons were habitable. What is considered habitable is quite relative, but Yanchen had seen worse than the spaceport of the Majorian II. 

“This is beautiful” Zhengting said looking out the window. Yanchen couldn’t help but agree with him this time. “I had seen pictures of places like this but seeing this live… it’s so much different! Zeren would love to see this.” 

Right, the famous brothers. Zhengting never talked about any other people than his brothers so when he sadly mentioned how Zeren would like to see this or that, or Chengcheng would die for Zhangjing's cooking or that Justin would absolutely love Xingjie's magic tricks or Xinchun and Wenjun would get along Xikan and Quanzhe would love to try out deathball, Yanchen and the other crew members learned to not question him about his family as it was clearly a sensitive topic for the boy. Even his mood deflating, he still liked to talk about them a lot, as if he just couldn’t stop his thoughts returning to them. 

As he was busy admiring the view from the lounge together with Zhengting and his inevitable shadow, Yanjun, he almost missed an agitated Xingjie barging into lounge, his personal tablet in hand. 

“Where is Xukun?” he demanded. 

“On the bridge. Why?” Yanchen asked curious. 

“Something happened on Eidara.” 

 

Xukun eyes were huge from surprise and horrific disbelief as he set Xingjie’s tablet down the dining table collapsing into his usual chair weakly. The whole crew gathered in the mess hall but no one was speaking: as if the grave silence enveloped everyone and everything in the world. 

“In a 50 km radius?” 

“Yes” Zhou Rui told them curtly, his face lagging a little on the tablet. “No explosions, no burn marks, no material damage. Just every single living organism from the last straw of grass to the fattest man. Everything dispersed into thin air in mere minutes.” 

Zhenghao's heavy, labored breathing had interrupted their talk all of a sudden. Surprisingly it was Zhengting to rush to the boys side the first, grasping the wheezing teenager's shoulder. He was having a panic attack.

"Haohao, look at me!" He said in a commanding tone. Zhenghao complied eyes raising to meet Zhengting's. "Come on, show me your fingers and count your breath with me." Zhenghao had raised his trembling fingers and mimicked Zhengting by closing each of them one by one accompanied by a struggling deep breath. By the time they reached ten, Zhenghao was visibly calmer.

"I'm sorry for being like this" Zhenghao muttered embarrased. Zhengting had kissed his forehead.

"It's okay, you shouldn't feel bad." he told him softly, patting his hear slowly. "My little brother has a lot of panic attacks, but this always helps him too."

“What monster is capable of something like that?” Linkai cried out angrily all of a sudden. Zhengting had jumped in surprise, he probably had forgotten that the others are around. 

"I thought I would never have to see things like this once I left the Nexus behind" Xikan said. "This is disgusting."

“You just left from there” Xingjie’s speaking voice was raspy and slow, his focus entirely on the video feed of his lover. As if saying every word is a struggle for him. “You and Yankai. You told me in your message. You even said you had seen a Nexum battlecruiser.” 

Zhou Rui sighed guiltily. 

“Yes, we did. I should have known, after all that happened to us I should have guessed what they were about to do. I should have warned them…” 

“About what? And how?” Ziyi asked. “You didn’t have any idea what this is, no one does. The Eidaran people haven’t done anything, they just needed a place to test a new shiny toy.” 

A sharp screech was heard as Zhengting’s chair shot back and the boy stormed off the room. Yanjun lifted his head in question towards Xukun but the captain shook his head. Let him go. No one had the strength to go after him. 

“But I still should have done at least something! But no, I just grabbed Yankai and dragged him back to our ship and just left, I can’t believe…” 

“I almost lost you today” Xingjie finally said, voice trembling from repressed emotions and panic. 

“Jie, love…” Zhou Rui started but he couldn’t finish the sentence. 

Yanchen didn’t really know what to say either. Was it a bad thing that he felt relief? A town full of people, lost forever, people with families, people with dreams. Yet here Yanchen was, feeling relief because Yankai and Rui ge weren’t one of them. 

Yanchen felt disgusted with himself. He couldn’t look anyone in the eye, not the silently crying Nongnong, not the wailing Linkai, not the frozen, motionless Zhangjing, not Zhenghao who seemed to slowly work himself up into a panic attack again. 

He fled the room. He just wanted to get to the engine room: the cornerstone of his life on the Papillon, it might provide him some much-needed serenity. 

As he was rushing through the catwalk over the cargo bay he suddenly heard heavy breathing, which made him halt in his own panic induced rush. 

Yanchen could barely see him in the nonexistent light of the cargo bay but Zhengting was there, crouching between boxes, his head buried in between his knees, his hands tightly gripping his hair, his whole body shaking from uncontrollable sobs. Yanchen rushed down immediately: seeing the boy, who not so long ago chatted with him about wanting to try chocolate for the first time so utterly devastated was like an out of this world experience for the engineer. 

Not even thinking about turning on the lights Yanchen rushed to the boy’s side, reaching for his shoulder when… 

“Don’t touch me!” Zhengting let out a panicked screech snapping Yanchen’s hand away and throwing the boy back until he crashed against their precious crates that were standing nearby. But it wasn’t pain that Yanchen felt. 

It was sorrow and fear. Devastation and grief. Soul-consuming guilt and loneliness. Everything so intense, so grave that Yanchen could feel physical pain in his heart. Gasp for air, suddenly his windpipes to narrow to get enough oxygen into his lungs. 

It only seemed to last for a moment, but Yanchen needed some extra time to gather himself as he slowly looked up to Zhengting’s concerned face looming over his in the dark storage room. 

Zhengting’s eyes were dark where it should have been white and his glowing white irises looked back at Yanchen with worry. 

“What are you?” Yanchen heard himself ask astonished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo, I am back!  
> This thing had taken a while to edit, my beta was on a vacation, but here we are, back from the dead. I had seen nex7 Weibo updates about them recording songs this morning, so I had to post this now! I am so excited!! Only if Nine Percent would release something too...
> 
> Next chapter is Yanjun POV and probably will be posted in two parts, because right now it's a twelve page long monster that still needs editing, but I will deliver it to you soon enough.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it. I love comments and kudos, they motivate me to write quicker! ;)


	6. Chapter 4: Yanjun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let’s not bring my poor mother into this, Dinghao” Yanjun smiled as he took in his friend’s appearance. “Did you stopped aging after settling here or what? You haven’t changed a single bit, human sunshine!”  
> “Oh, you mean when you left me on this godforsaken place nine years ago?” Dinghao raised an eyebrow, casually dismissing Yanjun’s flirting with a single look. “I am surprised at my self-restraint right now actually, for not murdering you in cold blood the moment I had seen you walk in.”  
> Yanchen giggled silently from his side.  
> “I see our Yanjun ge has the same effect on everyone” he said lightly, extending a hand towards the ringmaster. “Zhou Yanchen, nice to meet you.”  
> “Lu Dinghao, pleasure is mine” Dinghao took it smiling back at Yanchen. Yanjun just realized what he did: introducing two balls of sunshine in such a casual manner… the consequences might be catastrophic. “The kid belongs to you two?” Dinghao casually motioned behind himself in amusement.  
> “Yeah, that’s Zhengting” Yanjun chuckled lightly. “Please, excuse him. He has lived… a sheltered life before, I guess. Everything is new to him.” 
> 
> Yanjun decides to take on a new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized it's not even that long, so you all are getting it in one installment in the end.
> 
> I guess I am worse than iQiyi when it gets to editing, since this chapter is much longer than the previous ones, but hey, this is a written fiction after all, not a television program. I don't necessarily need to fit it in a frame...
> 
> Hope, you will enjoy it!

Life had to go on. 

This was the motivation to get Yanjun out of his bed every day since he left his home planet at age 20. No matter what happened, no matter what horrible things he had done in the past ten years as he roamed every crook and neck of the known galaxy, he always had this phrase to fall back onto. 

Of course, he understood the crew’s devastation. It was always like that. As much as you feel like you were accomplishing something good in your mere little life, something like this would happen and the feeling of complete and utter uselessness could consume the strongest of character too. All through the years, he learned to detach himself from the world on this level: a resignation of sort he had seen reflected in Ziyi’s and – surprisingly – Xukun’s and Zhangjing’s eyes. 

He still remembered when he first met those three at Jakuta. Ziyi’s reluctant alliance turned brotherly bond with him against the lowest of the human garbage in the galaxy, and then the wide-eyed and seemingly innocent duo basically crashing their routine with their broken English and their wild ideas of escaping. Yanjun still remembered not wanting to get involved in their little fantasy of sneaking into a prisoner transport shuttle and just leave everything behind. And he also remembered not quite processing that they had done it for weeks afterwards, when his two years on Jakuta was only haunting him in his worst nightmares. He still had doubts about why the others wanted him to stay with them, it’s not like he had never fitted in, sticking out of their little ragtag team of scavengers like a sore thumb. 

Xukun and Zhangjing: they share something, that they would never tell anyone else and Ziyi... Ziyi was like the missing puzzle piece for the two. They clicked together for the very first moment they met and Yanjun had to admit he was jealous, because he just didn't fit into this picture at all and that feeling never started to change even after they got the Papillon and recruited the others. He always felt like a recluse, while the others were social, he always seemed to have different reaction to situations than the others. Xukun said that was what made them into a good team, but Yanjun knew better, so he learned to mask his emotions, his real thoughts behind a carefully-crafted personality. It felt safer to show them something they were familiar with, rather than who he really was.

But life had to go on, so Yanjun had also went on with it. He thought of himself as a free spirit like that: , it was easier not to get attached to anything. At least like this, he could avoid the heartache when he lost something dear to him. 

He already thought that what he felt about the crew of the Papillon should be stopped, but for years now, he could convince himself that he could leave all these behind: the only reason of him staying was that he thought this was the most practical option for him. But at times like this, his resolution seemed to fail him: especially nowadays, he had a hard time convincing himself that he doesn’t care. 

Life moved on and Yanjun refused to be left behind. 

Xukun told everyone to go to their cabin and rest. He would land the ship. Ziyi, ever so loyal, ever so nice Ziyi had volunteered to supervise the Engine Room since Yanchen had disappeared somewhere. 

 

And Yanjun was itching to stand on land leaving the tight air of the ship behind so he told Xukun that he would go and see his friend once they landed. 

“Ok but try to stick to the plan” Xukun nodded absentmindedly as Yanjun cornered him on the stuffy bridge of the ship. His focus was on the steering panel, concentrating on the landing with a surprising ease. “I’m not sure if Yanchen or Zhengting is up for your trip though, try to convince them to join you.” 

Yanjun find the two of them sitting side-by-side on the catwalk, their feet dangling over the dark cargo bay. 

“Hey, are we ready to go?” Yanchen asked hopping up, flashing his big, bright smile at Yanjun. The gunman looked at him utterly shocked: he seemed much more upset about this whole ordeal, when he hurriedly left the mess hall half an hour ago. 

“Yeah” he answered slowly. “I came to ask if you are still up for it or not.” 

“Of course, I am!” Yanchen exclaimed enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to go ashore!” 

Yanjun furrowed his eyebrows even further. 

“Good for you…” he said, still not understanding what has happened. He looked at Zhengting trying to find an explanation, but instead of the boy’s usual kind smile and understanding face, the expression he was met with was unreadable. For a moment, Yanjun thought he saw some guilt flashing on the angelic face. 

“You don’t have to come with me, you know” he addressed Zhengting gently. “I will manage alone.” 

“No, this is nonsense” Zhengting shook his head. “You will still need a translator, don’t you? I am coming with you.” 

To tell the truth Yanjun kinda had ulterior motives when he said he wanted Zhengting to come with him. He could have easily asked Dinghao to translate for them, but watching their passenger for the past week, he just had these sudden urges to try to make this sad man happy for a while. 

Because while the other crew members had seen Zhengting rambling on and on about the most basic things in wonder, they heard him playfully bantering with everyone, trying to cheer them up when some of them were in a low mood, but Yanjun was around to see when the other boy’s smile melted off his face, his eyebrows furrowing in worry. When he would just freeze to stare sadly into the air in front of him muttering to himself in a language that sounded familiar to Yanjun but he couldn’t place where he heard it before, no matter how hard he tried. 

So when the little shopping trip was issued by the captain and Zhengting volunteered to help, Yanjun had decided to squeeze the opportunity to show off for the curious boy. 

“I thought you might want to see a few things you have read about in real life, what do you say?” he asked casually. 

Yanjun suddenly thought that Zhengting’s answering soft smile was worth the trouble for sure. 

Once the Papillon landed in the spaceport Yanchen, Yanjun and Zhengting agreed to meet at the cargo door. Yanjun only wore his custom-made revolver when he was onboard. It was Xukun’s policy: if they have an intruder on the ship, he would want to know how and why he got on first, not just eliminating him immediately and this was the only weapon in Yanjun’s collection that had a stun function. But if he were about to venture out in a foreign spaceport with the most clueless people he could imagine, he needed real firepower. He didn’t wanted to gain much attention though, so he set his sniper aside getting out a second handgun which he put in the inner breast pocket of his longcoat. And just a small knife or two hidden in boots wouldn’t hurt anyone. He already had his big case knife on his belt, but it was always better to be safe. He knew Yanchen would gear up, the mechanic was actually pretty good with a gun in his hand, but sometimes he was prone to freeze up in risky situations. 

Zhengting… Zhengting was just standing there waiting for them as if nothing on the world was bothering him. The clothes Zhangjing had given him on the second day had looked a little big on him: they probably belonged to Linong originally, his long but skinny limbs and tiny waist seemed to disappear under the layers of clothing. Standing there, his hand casually in his pockets looking out the opened cargo door curiously, he looked so impossibly harmless that Yanjun started to doubt his decision of bringing him on this trip. 

“Maybe you should have a gun or something.” Yanjun told the boy once they were standing next to each other. Zhengting had gave him a look from head to toes, accessing his attire. 

“I think you have enough for both of us” he smiled cheekily. “Besides I don’t like guns and I don’t need them” 

“You actually know how to shoot a gun?” Yanjun asked, surprised. Of course, he did. Sometimes, Yanjun wondered if Zhengting’s sole purpose of existence was to surprise him. “Nevermind, forget I asked. What is more important that you don’t know these places and you cannot expect to be as lucky as you had been when you stumbled upon us.” 

“I wasn’t lucky. I knew I could ask for your help” Zhengting said without any hesitation as if it was the most trivial thing on the world. “Just like I knew that I won’t need a gun right now. I am not a complete imbecile, you know?” 

“Of course, I do.” That was something Yanjun hadn’t doubted for a second. He witnessed it with his own eyes, how Zhengting’s brain had absorbed information around him like a sponge, his intelligence growing rapidly by the passing days. 

“You are not even making fun of me now” he said, surprised. It was a good look on him: another tendency Yanjun noticed was that surprising the boy had also became gradually harder as his knowledge grew and the older didn’t like that, not even a little bit. He kind of wanted to stay a mystery to the younger for some inexplicable reason. 

Yanjun couldn’t help but flash a smile at him. Gosh, he knew he probably looked stupid, but he couldn’t help it. Zhengting had turned towards him as if something about Yanjun had caught his attention, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Their passenger sometimes did that: turning to them curiously, his eyes darting around, as if scanning the air around them, sometimes even sniffing them. For Zhengting, the concept of personal space had definitely fallen into the unfamiliar category, flustering most of them. Yanjun was so familiar with this daily routine by that time, he was already rolling his eyes, before the usual question could leave the boy’s mouth.

He was saved from the awkwardness by the arrival of Yanchen. The engineer had barged down, boots clanking on the ramps heavily, stopping right between them, smiling. 

“You both are here already, magnificent! Let’s go!” he said, stomping through right between the dazed pair, getting them out of their reveries. 

“Do you know why he is acting like this?” Yanjun asked him confused. “I mean, I’m a pro at pretending everything’s okay when I am upset, but even I am not all right today…” 

“Well, maybe he had just stopped worrying about something he cannot change anyway” Zhengting snapped unexpectedly, nervously looking everywhere but Yanjun and he hurried off to join the smiling Yanchen, walking off to the busy streets of the moon. 

“Aiyo, you two don’t even know where we are going!” He yelled before jogging up to them quickly. Well, he might as well enjoy Yanchen’s good mood while it lasts instead of questioning it. 

 

 

“Lin Yanjun, you son of a bitch!” 

Yanjun had limited experiences with circuses, but as far as he could tell, Lu’s Fanfare of Curiosity is one of the best businesses in the galaxy. The myriad of colors and just the casual warmness of the huge stable like building they entered was so much like its owner that Yanjun was hit with a pang of nostalgia. The owner himself, Lu Dinghao seemed like an unsuspecting person for the first look, but he wasn’t that easy to trick, Yanjun knew it from experience. 

“Let’s not bring my poor mother into this, Dinghao” Yanjun smiled as he took in his friend’s appearance. “Did you stopped aging after settling here or what? You haven’t changed a single bit, human sunshine!” 

“Oh, you mean when you left me on this godforsaken place nine years ago?” Dinghao raised an eyebrow, casually dismissing Yanjun’s flirting with a single look. “I am surprised at my self-restraint right now actually, for not murdering you in cold blood the moment I had seen you walk in.” 

Yanchen giggled silently from his side. 

“I see our Yanjun ge has the same effect on everyone” he said lightly, extending a hand towards the ringmaster. “Zhou Yanchen, nice to meet you.” 

“Lu Dinghao, pleasure is mine” Dinghao took it smiling back at Yanchen. Yanjun just realized what he did: introducing two balls of sunshine in such a casual manner… the consequences might be catastrophic. “The kid belongs to you two?” Dinghao casually motioned behind himself in amusement. 

“Yeah, that’s Zhengting” Yanjun chuckled lightly. The moment they stepped into the grandiose stable hall Zhengting immediately darted off looking at the animals in undisguised wonderment, darting from here and there like a human whirlwind. “Please, excuse him. He has lived… a sheltered life before, I guess. Everything is new to him.” 

As if he could hear his name mentioned from across the hall, Zhengting hurried back to his friends grasping Dinghao’s hand in both his own. “This is the most welcoming place I have ever been in my life!” he exclaimed in wonder “All the warm colors and smells! Amazing! You are a wonderful person for making this!” 

“It’s not that big of a deal” Dinghao blushed visibly. “It desperately needs a paintjob; the colors are not that amazing at all… And everything actually smells like horse dung for me, I don’t know.” 

Zhengting had given such a condescending smile to the uncomprehending Dinghao that it was the most ridiculous scene Yanjun had ever witnessed. Especially when Zhengting just proceeded to pat Dinghao in the head: the gunman couldn't help it but laugh out loud. 

“Is he for real?” Dinghao turned to Yanjun and Yanchen when Zhengting darted off again to gather a baby piglet in his arms. The two of them just laughed at the ringmaster’s flabbergasted expression. 

“Yeah, you bet!” Yanjun told him. “So how is business?” he asked casually.

“Can’t complain much, thank you” Dinghao said. “I still have many guests, but the animal protection crews are on my neck all the time.” 

“Why? What’s wrong? Never thought a place like the Majorian II would have environmental laws” Yanchen wondered out loud. “And this place looks completely okay to me, but I guess I am not an expert.” 

“This place IS completely okay, you are right” Dinghao confirmed. “But they are always on and on about how keeping animals in captivity is cruelty and I should let them go. Which is quite ridiculous, if you ask me” He shook his head. “Many of these animals had been born in captivity, they wouldn’t last a week out there in one of the most polluted planet of the galaxy.” 

“But they are happy!” Zhengting piped up, looking at Dinghao with eyebrows furrowed by casually letting the piglet in his arms suckle on his pinky finger. “That lion over there for example looks so happy that he is practically glowing!” 

To Dinghao’s credit, he hadn’t reacted to the oddly phrased statement at all. 

“Yeah, but I guess he wouldn’t know better, would he?” he said. Zhengting looked at him confused. “I mean this is all he ever knew in his whole life. If I would let him out for a day and bring him back here afterwards, would he be as happy as he is now?” 

The smile on Zhengting face melted as he absentmindedly caressed the pig in his arms deeply in thought. 

“It might be better if they don’t see it at all, right?” Zhengting said finally sounding oddly serious all of a sudden. “If it’s too dangerous for them out there, maybe it’s better if they know nothing at all.” 

“Yeah, I guess it’s like that. Not to mention the other way around! He is a dangerous carnivore after all, out of his natural habitat. It can be disastrous if you think about it for real…” Dinghao nodded along. “Anyway... spit out already! What do you want?” 

“What? Can’t a dear friend just drop in for a casual visit now and then?” Yanjun said acting as if offended. “Maybe I just missed your pretty face.” 

“Like all those other times you had drop by?” Dinghao asked disbelievingly. “When was the last time, four years ago? You just wanted a place to hide because the Nexum was on your back again.” 

“All right, you had me. I just wanted to ask whether you can help us. Our ship needs a…” Yanjun trailed off looking at Yanchen for help. 

“A fission power converter. For our hyperdrive. Can you help us find a supplier maybe?” 

Dinghao looked away contemplating. 

“What type is your ship?” 

“Firefly class.” 

“That’s quite an antique.” 

“But it’s the best.” 

“Maybe, this guy, Luo Zheng, who may help you. He lives two streets down from here near a speeder renting station. His workshop is called Maverick's, he is a nice guy. He has all sorts of things and a quite tax-free business if you are interested. Tell them I sent you. He will help you then.” 

"Ooh, Lu Dinghao!" Yanjun smiled knowingly. "Is this Luo Zheng special for you or something?" 

Dinghao scoffed. 

"As if! Unlike someone we know I won't bed anyone that would come across me." 

“You wound me... That's how you think of me, sunshine?" Yanjun teased. 

"Yes, yes that's exactly you!" 

"Huh, what to do..." Yanjun shook his head. He missed this, Dinghao, the way the boy warmed his heart, even after all the baggage of their spectacularly failed relationship. That was really rare in Yanjun's book: ever since they parted, Yanjun haven't felt anything similar to that until very recently, but he didn't really feel brave enough to venture his thoughts in that direction. "But we should get going, our time here is short... Dinghao, you are a life saver as always.” Yanjun smiled kissing his friend affectionately on the cheek. “I promise I’m coming back once I have a holiday to catch up with you.” 

“You said the same thing four years ago” Dinghao rolled his eyes. 

“Well, I am a busy man, but I’m saying this for real now. Once we finish this job, my captain promised a time-off for all us, I’m coming back I promise.” 

Yanjun knew this was probably not a promise he could keep but he would really try to do this time. They could both feel it: what they had in the past was staying in the past and what has left was something pure, something real. Whit one last warm smile at his ex-lover, Yanjun quickly grabbed Zhengting's wrist to get him away from the piglet and motioned for Yanchen to say his goodbyes and soon they were once again back on the street. 

The Maverick's wasn't that hard to find and Luo Zheng himself didn't seem like a bad person even if he seemed a little intimidated at first by looking at the gunman walking in his workshop, with two also rather unusual people in his tow. Yanjun was used to this kind of reaction and he thrived on it: nothing felt better than scaring the hell out of ordinary people. As he thought about it, Yanchen's wicked scoundrel look paired with Zhengting's untouchable beauty which was just even accentuated by the boy's sudden seriousness – he oddly hadn't talked or smiled much since they left the circus – the trio of them would leave quite an impression on anyone, really. 

So when Luo Zheng shook his head and started to speak in rapid Cantonese he barely needed interpretation to know what he was saying. 

"Firefly class? Sorry, I don't do firefly." Zhengting translated quickly. Yanjun sighed out loud and looked around the room: he had seen all this before. The shop owner just wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible. The gunman casually walked up to the counter and leaned on it while ever so slowly flipping his coat back so he would get out his revolver from its holster and snapping it on the counter. He reached into his pocket to get some bullets out of it and he casually lined them up on the grainy surface in front of him. 

Telling Dinghao that his friend wasn't exactly as he told them to be was put on his to-do list. 

"Are you sure about that? We would really like those parts" He said, trusting Zhengting and his own expressions to get his message known. 

"I... I really don't know, it's not that easy to find..." Lou Zheng rambled on terrified and it was quite amusing to hear Zhengting repeat his words in a monotone voice. Yanjun didn't react: he just flipped his gun open to put the bullets into the magazine. As he held up the first one, his eyes bored into the trembling salesclerk's pair for a few seconds. It was enough, he looked away to resume his overacted task. 

"I... I will get it for you" Luo Zheng trembled out finally, as Yanjun had placed the first bullet in its place in the gun. "But I need to go over to my garage, that will take an hour or two." 

Yanjun smiled as Zhengting finished telling him everything in English. 

"We will wait, thank you" He patted the clerk's shoulder. "Zhengting, can you tell him that Yanchen would love to go with him? He is just absolutely fascinated with garages, don't you, Yanchen?" 

"Oh, absolutely" Yanchen grinned. This wasn't his usual smile, no. This was his wicked evil smile that always shocked Yanjun when it surfaced now and then. It was so dissimilar to his personality yet it seemed so natural, Yanchen was truly a born conman with the acting skill of a professional. 

Once the two of them left, Yanjun turned to Zhengting. 

"What's wrong with you? You haven't said much since we left from Dinghao's place." 

"Ah, sorry" Zhengting smiled embarrassed. "I just got lost in my thoughts." 

"Hmmm... That happens to the best of us I guess" Yanjun hummed. He had seen that the boy had something visibly upsetting him, but he decided not to pry. "Come on, I have something to show you." 

Yanjun had flipped himself on the first overstuffed public transport vehicle not bothering with tickets or things like that, motioning for Zhengting to join him, their fronts squished together uncomfortably by the large crowd leaving the city behind. Zhengting mop of soft hair was right under Yanjun's nose, annoying him with its silky feel and slightly flowery smell. It was a sunny day, something Yanjun had felt blessed for, the city folk probably heading out to the same place as he was planning to go. 

Yanjun hadn't really looked around as they swiftly left the city behind, his eyes trained on Zhengting but he could still tell when it was in sight by the expression on Zhengting's face. 

"Oh..." Yanjun was expecting a loud exclamation or a blinding smile but the boy had managed to surprise him once again. 

Because Zhengting had seemingly lost his voice in amazement. 

He practically darted off from the bus once they stopped running over to the edge of the cliff plopping himself down, dangling his feet into the large canyon full with the colors of erosion and the river running at the bottom of it, draining the water cascading down in white waves on the large waterfall right in front of them. 

"This is the actual Whitefall" Yanjun told him once he caught up with his mesmerized companion, sitting beside him. "You might remember, it was in..." 

"Andy Lau's Travels through seven systems. This is where he confessed his love for his friend" Zhengting said. "I know. That was the first book you gave me to read." 

Yanjun smiled at him. 

"Yes, I really love that book. I remember reading it as a teenager and dreaming about going all the places he mentioned and writing my own travel book of adventures. Actually, that was the reason I originally left my home behind, believe it or not. Dinghao decided to leave with me, he hadn't got much left to stay there with. This was our first stop, because we both thought that this was the best place Andy had visited in the book." Yanjun didn't feel like talking about how his original vision of traveling through the galaxy was painfully shredded away by harsh reality, that his adventures after that haven't been exactly something that is fit for a pages of a travel diary for young children to read and Zhengting didn't pry either.

"It's incredible." He said in a low voice, barely a whisper. "Dinghao and you must have had a wonderful time here then." 

Yanjun looked back at the boy searching his face: Zhengting looked incredibly sad for some reason. 

"It wasn't like that for us you know. Dinghao and I had already broken up by the time we escaped from home" Yanjun felt the sudden urge to explain himself to the younger. 

"I'm sorry" 

"You don't have to be. That's not why I told you this." 

"Why did you tell me then?" 

"I... nevermind" Yanjun shook his head. He felt himself blushing in embarrassment for this awkward conversation and was ready to change the topic when Zhengting suddenly spoke up. 

"Why did you want to leave your home so much? Didn't you have a family?"

The question took Yanjun off guard. This wasn't exactly a topic he talked about much with anyone, he didn't want to remember, he didn't want people to look at him and judge him.

He shook his head. This was Zhengting. He would never judge him, he could tell.

"I did, of course. I had my parents and a younger sister. My father... he was an interesting man. He served in the Nexum army up until he was retired after decades of service. He wasn't injured or anything he was just too old for active duty and didn't have enough friends to be promoted into a grand admiral and becoming a consul in the Nexum Prime" He started his tale. "There was this huge election thing and he felt snobbed out in favour of some 'nobody who was some ridiculous war hero' as he would put it."

"Just like Ziyi! He is a war hero, isn't he?" Zhengting piped up. Yanjun chuckled.

"Zhengting, Ziyi is a war criminal, not a hero. And this was a different war actually.

"What? Your Wang Ziyi? A war criminal?" Zhengting gasped.

"Ziyi was a separatist, that was his only sin" Yanjun explained. "I know, it's ridiculous. He thought that the Nexum Prime, a council of old, privileged men shouldn't control every resource in the galaxy and he was ready to fight for it. He should be admired, not persecuted."

"Ah, I see... And your father was almost on the council of old, privileged men?” Yanjun nodded at the younger’s words. “Then it's really funny, how you two are such good friends now!"

Yanjun smiled. "And the best part is that I myself was gearing up to be one!"

"Huh?!"

"My father... he was obsessed with it and when it was taken away from him, he couldn't cope with it. I was nineteen at the time, already attending a military school, gearing up to be a soldier myself and after that, his only motivation was to make me consul if he couldn't be one. Sending me to all the social events, monitoring my every move... I couldn't bear it. I never wanted a military career. Unlike my little sister…” 

“Oh, right, you’re a gege too! What is your little sister like?”

“It’s not like that for us, then it is for you” Yanjun admitted. He hadn’t spoken about his sister for a decade now, he felt strange. “We had never seen eye to eye. She was so different from me, she thrived for all that pretension and fakeness surrounding us. Sometimes I felt bad for her, because she will never be what our father wanted even though she wanted to. Wanting to prove herself so much to him, not realizing how undeserving he was. I tried to make her see but it wouldn’t work so I gave up, I guess. I just took off and never looked back."

"But they were still your family! Didn't you feel remorse at all for leaving them behind?"

"Sure, I loved them, they were my family after all, but they were making me do something I hated, and they tried to control me for the rest of my life, where is the love in that?"

Zhengting stayed silent after that. He pulled his legs up to his torso, resting his chin on them still looking at the waterfall and that's when Yanjun saw a single tear leaving his eye.

Yanjun's hand moved on instinct to wipe it away, shocking the other quite comically.

"I'm sorry." Zhengting said. "I just miss my brothers so much. And I'm starting to think that I won't be able to save them all. And I can’t just give up on them."

"Save them? From what?" Yanjun's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Yanjun knew that Zhengting had six younger brothers, which sounded a ridiculously large family at first, but by now Yanjun could tell a lot of things about all the boys Zhengting had clearly adored so much. But right now, as he looked the desperate looking boy who had obviously struggled to find the words to explain, Yanjun realized: Zhengting might not have been as honest with them as they all thought. "Zhengting... your brothers are not waiting for you on the Blue Moon, aren't they?"

Silence. And then a voice thinner than anything Yanjun had heard from the boy before.

"They were taken away from me. I want them back, they can't help themselves without me."

"Zhengting, I am sure they are fine and you will get them back" Yanjun told the boy. Zhengting shook his head vehemently, more tears running down his cheek. Yanjun's heart broke at the sight. "After all this, I will help you. I will help you find them, all right?"

Zhengting's head snapped up the gunman questioningly. And then it was the look, the quiet condescension, the resignation of being misunderstood. Yanjun was afraid Zhengting would pat his head as he did with Dinghao.

"You wouldn't say that if you would know the whole situation. You would feel disgusted with me. With us." He said seriously. Yanjun couldn't help but think: how can anything be so bad, that this man, this literal angel in front of him could possibly done that he would feel disgusted with. It was absurd, really. How easily Zhengting would tear down his carefully crafted walls, annoying and exhilarating him at the same time, getting under his skin like an irremovable itch, making Yanjun bearing his whole mind and soul. It was absolutely terrifying and yet, at the same time, Yanjun had never felt as alive as he did in his presence.

"Then don't tell me. I don't need to know everything" Yanjun finally said. "I will just trust you with it from now on."

The response was the usual, the darting look scanning him all around.

"What are you feeling right now? It's the same as for before, isn't it?" Zhengting asked his usual question and just as usually Yanjun felt frustrated by it. He guessed 'before' was referring to their moment when they were about to leave the ship interrupted by Yanchen, but he was still not closer to the answer then he was back then.

"You know, people can't always tell what they feel."

"That is an impractical thing."

"Maybe, but it's a human thing. You shouldn't fight what you can't help." Yanjun shrugged, quickly looking at his watch. "We should head back, Yanchen is probably finished by now."

On the way back, Zhengting's warm torso pressing against his own on the crowded transporter didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore: head bent towards Yanjun, face buried in his shoulder, Yanjun felt Zhengting's fingers curling around the hem of his coat on his chest while his other hand interlacing with his and he tried to tell himself his heart wasn't beating lightspeed fast because of it and it didn't hurt him unexpectedly when the two of them parted once they were back in the city.

Somehow Luo Zheng did find them a power converter magically and the three of them easily loaded it off to the Papillon's cargo bay. Yanjun had left it to Yanchen to order the other crewmembers around after that, letting out a relaxed sigh, stretching as the cargo door shut and Linkai had started to lift them up. Xukun thought Yanchen would be fine finishing his repairs up in space that was a safer option for them, even if it gave extra jobs to do for everyone. Well, everyone except Yanjun.

He turned to Zhengting. "Come on, let's go" he said. "Maybe Xukun loves you, but passengers are still not allowed in the cargo area."

Zhengting just grabbed Yanjun's wrists to stop him from walking away. Yanjun turned around looking at him in confusion.

Zhengting stepped closer, reaching out with his index finger towards Yanjun's face. The gunman didn't understand it first, but the boy had looked at him with his soft smile gently pulling his finger up in the middle form the base of his nose and across Yanjun's forehead. As Yanjun felt his face relax, Zhengting smiled at him, with a small, sweet smile.

"Much better" he said and that was it for Yanjun. He shook off Zhengting's fingers that was still holding his wrist just to wrap his arm around the boy's waist, while his other hand gently caressed his jaw, lifting his face up and leaning in for a kiss.

It was soft at first, Zhengting probably too shocked to react. Well, congratulations Yanjun, you managed to surprise him, good job! He couldn't help but smirk a little as they were still lips against lips, but it quickly disappeared once he felt Zhengting kissing back softly, his body relaxing into Yanjun's embrace. It was like that at first, just gentle touches of lips, but it gradually deepened, Zhengting's arms slowly finding their way around Yanjun's neck, lips parting ever so slightly, Yanjun taking the opportunity and slip his tongue in.

Yanjun couldn't tell if it was seconds or minutes or forever but they parted silently and softly, just staying close, staring into each other's eyes. Yanjun couldn't help but thank his fate that everyone was busy around the ship, because he would never hear the end of it, how he, the playboy just scored again, but no, even thinking that felt wrong. Zhengting was so much more, so inexplicable, so fantastic: he wasn't a conquest. As he was thinking that, the boy had rested his forehead against his chin for a moment to sigh out loud. 

"Yanjun ge" he said, whining pitifully. Yanjun's frown came back again with full force, turning his head ever so slightly, the tip of his nose gently nudging Zhengting's temple.

"What's wrong?" He whispered softly against his cheekbone. Zhengting lifted his head, expression so sad, so desperate as Yanjun had just taken his puppy away, not shared a mind-blowing kiss with him.

"I'm so sorry, I don't want to do this. But I have to" he said quickly and leaned up to kiss Yanjun again.

This kiss felt different. Actually, everything felt different.

For a moment Yanjun felt like he will explode from the myriad of emotions hitting him: affection on the foremost, gratefulness, exhilaration, sadness, loneliness, hurt, guilt, guilt, guilt...

And then, Yanjun felt nothing.

Should he move? Should he stop Zhengting from stepping away from him, tears running down his cheek again? Should he stop Zhengting from wiping down his tears, before letting out a long breath, composing himself completely? He didn't know. He just didn't feel like doing anything at all, he felt completely, utterly numb.

So he just stood there and watched as Zhengting walked over to the crates, lifting their lid off, immediately starting to tap away on the capsule's control panels. He didn't react at all as they opened up one by one and Zhengting stood extending his arm into the first crate. He didn't react when Zhengting's hand was suddenly grabbed by another one and Zhengting helped the other figure emerge from the crate. While the first figure – a boy, even taller and skinnier than Zhengting – tried to compose himself, steadying himself on legs probably not used for weeks, blinking rapidly, rubbing his ears as if it was irritated, Zhengting walked towards the second crate and helped another tall boy out of it and then went for the third, did the same again to a shorter one.

Yanjun didn't react as the first boy walked up to him, curiously examining him. The second boy finally managed to steady himself and walked over to Zhengting, who was fussing around with the third boy, gently rubbing his temples, kissing his forehead.

"Ge, let us back in." The second boy whispered. "We shouldn't speak out loud."

Yanjun still felt indifferent when the first boy's face had lent in close to his, beautiful features arranged in complete amazement and curiosity.

"Your glitch had become so strong, Ting ge" he said astonished. “Do you think he would remember all this?”

“Probably would” The second one said to him. “It’s just emotional manipulation, not memory. That’s your thing to do.”

“But if you think about it, Ting ge can make him feel that it’s so irrelevant that he forgets about it. I hope it’s like that or we will be in trouble once the other one, Yanchen remembers you, ge.” 

"Please don't, Wenjunnie" Zhengting finally spoke sadly. "Just do your glitch and let's hide you. We probably won’t be around long enough to test if they would notice that something is wrong eventually, but I don’t want to try our luck. Xinchun, help me close the pods back. We have to put Xing ge's encryption back on it, so they would think you're still in there. Zeren, get ready to use your glitch too, honey."

"It would be easier if you would just let us back in!" The second boy said again, annoyed. "You haven't shared with us since you got back to the ship."

"I will... just not yet. Please, just help already!" The second boy sighed but did help Zhengting close the capsules back, locking it. They walked back to the third boy, who held his hands out for them grasp it. The moment they did they disappeared into thin air.

"You were really nice to Ge, so I feel bad doing this with you" The first boy, still too close to Yanjun spoke. The gunman's brain had barely registered that the boy – Wenjun – was talking to him. "But now you will go to your cabin, fall asleep and when you wake up you won't remember anything that happened tonight here."

Wenjun had also disappeared while Yanjun just went to his cabin, had fallen asleep and when he woke up the next day, he didn't remember anything after arriving back to the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I did that. I regret nothing. Things are heating up, don't they?
> 
> I just watched Solo with the Family the other day and I'm super motivated to write this if only I wouldn't have an exam tomorrow, but if everything goes well it's the last one and you will get an update after that.


	7. Chapter 5: Xukun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Everything is here, but I’m starting to think you forgot about my one and only rule.”   
> “No assassination jobs?”   
> “No”  
> “No kidnapping?” Xukun’s eyes flinched at the older man’s nonchalance.  
> “No”  
> “No drunks on the ship’s bridge?” Okay, maybe Xukun had way too many one rules, but Ronghao was doing this on purpose.  
> “Don’t play with me!” Xukun snapped. “I am not in the mood right now.”  
> Ronghao sighed tiredly.   
> “I know. You can dock in Bay 9. Come over and we’ll talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just update? Am I actually alive? The last time I updated this, NEX7 didn't even had a tag here yet...  
> Here's a new chapter if anyone is still interested.

Xukun had never felt so agitated to arrive at Aradris before. Not even two years ago, when Ronghao sent them to scavenge a wrecked Nexum ship for valuable medical supplies and he managed to lose everything in a scuffle at Haradria ending with a raid of the Papillon. He was happy to get all of them out alive, not really caring about their cargo at the time until the point he'd realized he had to face Ronghao and tell him the bad news.

But the agitation he felt now was completely different than it was back then. He didn't have the energy to pretend that this job didn't affect him as he paced nervously all through the ship's decks, rigorously check-listing everything on his way. 

They made it here surprisingly easily. It was way too easy for Xukun’s taste, to be honest. He sat down in his chair on the bridge, trying to not agitate a worried Xikan and an annoyed Linkai any further. Not many of the crew came to the bridge, it was mostly a place for the three of them, which was a good excuse for hiding from the others. Xukun has been hiding nowadays, from Zhangjing especially.

With a symbol they both knew well and a serial number that scared both of them so much it was easier to pretend that they were not involved, that they are clueless.

Maybe he was just imagining the worst case. Maybe he shouldn’t worry over things unnecessarily.

One thing he couldn’t deny though was that their past was catching up on them and they were not ready.

“Captain…” Xikan had interrupted his train of thoughts. “Ronghao is calling you.”

“Put him on the screen.” Xikan nodded, switching something on at his computer, Li Ronghao’s familiar face filling the screen in front of him.

“Don’t tell me you’re early because you don’t have it!” was all the greeting they got.

“Relax!” Xukun sighed. “Everything is here, but I’m starting to think you forgot about my one and only rule.”

“No assassination jobs?”

“No”

“No kidnapping?” Xukun’s eyes flinched at the older man’s nonchalance.

“No”

“No drunks on the ship’s bridge?” Okay, maybe Xukun had way too many one rules, but Ronghao was doing this on purpose.

“Don’t play with me!” Xukun snapped. “I am not in the mood right now.”

Ronghao sighed tiredly. 

“I know. You can dock in Bay 9. Come over and we’ll talk.”

“All right” Xukun nodded. “We dock, but we are not sealing just yet. The Papillon’s engine keeps running and the cargo stays on my ship until I’ll get a good explanation.”

“Seriously?” Ronghao laughed in disbelief. Xukun’s expression hadn’t changed. Ronghao let out a troubled sigh. “All right, but let’s finish this quickly if you want to disappear before my buyer arrives.”

Xukun disconnected the channels and stood from his chair.

“You two heard me. Stay at alert, be ready to leave at a moment’s notice” he told Linkai and Xikan before ascending the ladder leading to the bridge towards the communal area, his mind lost in memories from a long time ago, when he took his first job.

 

_This was a huge opportunity, everyone told Xukun. A great chance for him to stand on his own two feet, to make himself a real career. Xukun haven’t thought much about it: it was just a simple job as a security guard, even if it was in the biggest microbiological research center in their galaxy._

_So, when on his very first day they had him sign a contract that basically said that if he ever said a word about what he was about to see they would send him into a high security prison for the rest of his life, he thought he should back out while he had a chance. But he stupidly didn’t, something overwriting his sense of danger, a morbid curiosity of sort that stopped him from turning around and running away._

_“Your job is to stand there and make sure the staff comes out unharmed.” A grumpy man who was meant to be his supervisor had told him while handing him a small remote with a single switch._

_“Here. This can control it. If you see it attack anyone, switch it on. It creates stimuli in its brain that renders it harmless. But don’t use it too much! You can damage it irreversibly and we spent billions on this project. And the NXT990 is the first working prototype. It’s worth way more than your life for us.”_

_“What?” Xukun said, not sure about what to say to that. The supervisor just shrugged and patted him on his back._

_“Follow the orders kid and don’t ask questions. That way you might survive this place and make something of yourself.”_

_He never knew that what he was about to see would scar him for life._

 

Xingjie and Yanjun had been waiting for him at the mess hall with Ziyi all geared up, ready to go and finish off everyone that would try to stop them.

“No” Xukun shook his head. “I am going alone now. Y’all stay here and guard the ship. Guard the cargo as well. No one gets on or off this ship until I say otherwise.”

“I strongly disagree” Yanjun said. “That’s a stupidest thing I’ve heard you say so far, Cap and that’s a big achievement.”

Xukun rolled his eyes. He didn’t have the strength or the time to argue with his crew it would take way too long.

“Do as I say” he said coldly. “Or I throw you all out for mutiny.”

And with that, he stormed off leaving his shocked subordinates behind. Of course, he knew he wouldn’t do it. They knew he wouldn’t do it as well, but it seemed to be working.

“You can scare them off, but not me” Someone said from behind Xukun in a language he hasn’t used or heard for a long time. He froze for a moment: how could he not hear him coming?

“You are not coming with me, don’t even try.” Xukun answered also in his mother tongue shaking his head.

“I know what you’re about to do” Zhangjing said forcefully.

“You disapprove?”

“Some parts of it, yes” Zhangjing agreed. “And that’s why I’m going with you to talk to Ronghao. You know you need someone by your side, who would also know what is going on. We can discuss it later then, what we should do next.”

“There won’t be a place for discussion about this, Zhangjing. I’ll talk to Ronghao to see how much he knows or if it was on purpose that it was us that were hired to do this. And if we are not suspected of anything, we unload the stasis pods and get out of here as quickly as we can.”

“See, you know that’s the part I don’t agree with you” Zhangjing added as a matter of fact. “Where in the hell do you want to run from this?”

“Well, we had left a galaxy behind before with a powerful government for exactly the same reason.”

“And what about the others, huh? Do you think they would agree to do this? They have friends, they have family in these systems that you would sentence to death basically. Damn, don’t pretend you would just let everyone here rot, they’re your friends too.”

Caring was a dangerous disadvantage, Xukun learned that the hard way. But he needn’t have to explain that to Zhangjing, he was there with him for the whole ride.

“Well, they can all come, if they want. It’s fine for me.”

“You’re being ridiculous, Cai Xukun and you know it” Zhangjing laughed out darkly, not believing his captain’s fake nonchalance.

“And what do you want me to do, huh? We don’t know what’s going on in Avion and how the Nexum is involved in the first place. Even if we do, we would be powerless to do anything! Well, we know that HE was the one to send them here for some reason, that’s clear from the encoding. It would’ve been nice if he would’ve attached an explanation of sorts with it, to be honest.” Xukun said with unmasked hurt in his voice. “He would send a message or something. He clearly doesn’t want our help. I thought he would trust us more.”

Zhangjing scoffed. “How would you know? You were just a security guard.”

“As if you were any better, Mr. “Have You Tried to Turn Off and On Again”! Let’s face it, we would both probably considered pretty useless in his eyes. It’s a mere coincidence that we got involved with this again.”

Zhangjing gave him a pitying look.

“You know, that’s not true. You know what he entrusted us with.”

“And what a great job we did there!” Xukun snapped at the quartermaster. He just looked at his captain and best friend silently: this was a very low blow, invoking guilt in Xukun himself as well.

“Maybe you’re right” Zhangjing said in the end. “But we can’t just walk away acting ignorant. You had seen the serial numbers on those pods. Seven years ago, it was the NXT1299 and now one of those is NXT1999! Who knows where they let the research advance…” Zhangjing’s voice had trailed off. “We can’t let the Nexum Prime have it, it would be a catastrophe.”  
Xukun agreed with Zhangjing at that. “I’m afraid they already do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Eidara” Xukun said. “And Juliet, the cat with the organic cellular disintegration glitch.”

Zhangjing stopped in his tracks, his face deadly pale.

“They wouldn’t use that in the NXT series, don’t they? That’s incredibly dangerous! For both the clone and their environment! I thought he would stay behind to take the glitches away, not develop them. It was all supposed to be for the advancement of the people in the galaxy, not for weapons! He wouldn’t let this happen!”

“We both know he didn’t have much opportunity to control what the NXT Production does. I’m pretty sure he tried his best. Maybe that’s why the pods are here instead of Avion” Xukun let out an exhale and asking no one in particular. “Yixing, what have you done?”

A sudden metallic bang had disrupted the discussion between the two friends. Xukun and Zhangjing had quickly looked around the empty corridor, but they haven’t seen anyone. Xukun had ordered everyone except a few back to their cabins, and those others had their own jobs to do in different parts of the ship than this. No one was supposed to be around here. They looked behind the turns in the corridor too, but they couldn’t see anyone. Even after all these, Xukun couldn’t just let go of his suspicions. 

“I will check on Zhengting too.” he said to Zhangjing.

He found the passenger in his own compartment seemingly asleep which had reassured him that he hadn’t heard them talk either. Xukun didn’t think that he would have understand their words, no one in this galaxy spoke their language, but it would have been hard to explain to the clueless boy why they were talking like this.

“Hey!” Zhengting said, his face forming a radiant smile the moment he noticed the captain entering.

“Hey, Zhengting” Xukun smiled back. The captain had to reluctantly admit that he, along with the rest of the crew was completely charmed by this boy. Xukun just felt like he needs to protect him: such worldview, so pure, should be cherished and sheltered.

He felt a little bit like when he met Zhenghao. And of course, many years ago, when they first met Bangbang.

 

_When Xukun first met You Zhangjing he had been working in the Yuehua Research Center for six months. The jovial boy from IT hasn’t been someone Xukun expected to meet on a place like this. And he was the one to show him how this facility had better places than where he had to work, a whole department of it actually._

_“Dr Zhang’s amazing! The chimpanzee here has an IQ of 180, can you believe that?” the technician had told him when he decided to head for lunch at the cafeteria the same time the Disease Research Department did. “Yixing estimates that soon he can synthetize a cure for the dementia from their blood, Xukun! Can you imagine how awesome that would be? And once we can develop the physical ability enhancements, we may find a way to cure motor system diseases too!”_

_The young doctor in question, Dr Zhang Yixing just smiled at Zhangjing’s enthusiasm._

_“But first I have to find a way to predict and prevent the glitches or those weird anomalies would just keep killing the poor creatures off” he sighed. “Until then it would be way too dangerous to try testing anything on a human.”_

_Zhangjing shook his head, contemplating. “As a programmer, I would tell you this is an unsolvable problem, but I know that doesn’t stop you, doctor.”_

_Yixing smiled at his technical assistant while Xukun furrowed his eyebrows confused._

_“Why is it unsolvable?” So the horror I see every day will never end?_

_“What he meant is that what I do is very similar to computer programming” Yixing explained. “The DNA is basically millions of lines of unique code sequences which is impossible to write by hand, so we’re using a generator.”_

_“This is pretty basic process in programming” Zhangjing said. “But it gets tricky when we try to apply it to an organism.”_

_“We are trying to create an organic code with an inorganic machine.” Yixing sighed. “But the randomness of nature is basically unquantifiable. We can’t measure or predict it, we can’t contain it. It will always be different in the real life than it is in the simulations.”_

_“So these random sequences appear just out of nowhere?” Xukun asked._

_Yixing hummed affirmingly._

_“That’s what makes the animals do those inexplainable things and that’s what makes their health so unstable that we cannot stop them from dying unfortunately. Poor animals… Even though we’re the ones creating them, and they wouldn’t even exist without our research program, it still sickens me to see them suffer.”_

_Xukun was not allowed to say anything, because it would get them all in trouble, but he wanted to tell the doctor so much about what was happening at the NXT Production Department where he worked. What the Board did with his accidental discovery._

_He wished to make the doctor just turn around and never look back._

_Maybe that way no one would have found a way to eventually control the glitches._

 

“Xukun?” Zhengting asked worry settling in his eyes. “Is everything alright?”

“What?” Xukun shook himself out of his memories. “Yes, sorry. I just got distracted by my own thoughts.”

“Oh…” Zhengting said. “Then you should be careful not to walk around while so preoccupied. Especially if it makes you depressed.”

“It’s not exactly depressing… it was just a long time ago. Practically in a different life.” The captain told the concerned passenger. Zhengting’s gaze was even more penetrating now than it was ever before. Xukun heard a bang again that startled both him and Zhengting.

“Ah, again…” Xukun sighed. “I swear, if this ship falls apart, I’ll skin Yanchen, he is supposed to take care of her, and yet this strange banging keeps happening today around me.”

“Who knows, maybe you just have a ghost” Zhengting sighed, seemingly annoyed, but at what, that was a mystery to Xukun. “A clumsy, idiotic ghost that should know better than to follow the captain of the ship around!” he said forcefully to no one in particular. Xukun just blinked at him confused.

“Right… Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, that we will deliver our package now and after that we can head to the Blue Moon. You can be with your brothers again by this evening.”  
Zhengting’s smile had seemed slightly forced to Xukun now.

“That’s wonderful. I can’t thank you enough for everything you and your crew had done for me” he said. “I know you didn’t want me onboard and I’m sorry to force you on that.”

“Nonsense. I agreed in the end, didn’t I? I guess I took pity on you.”

“Yes, you guess” Zhengting agreed with a strange look in his eyes. What was it? Xukun couldn’t place.

Guilt maybe? But for what, that was a mystery to Xukun.

 

_“What have you done?”_

_Xukun will never forget Yixing’s shocked face when he was first ordered by the board of directors to the NXT Production site. Zhangjing, who loyally followed the doctor with his notepad everywhere had stood by the door frozen in place, staring at the sight in front of him in the lab. Xukun had cast his eyes down, not daring to look him in the eye._

_“Well, Dr Zhang… Technically this is all your wonderful work” Director Wong told the astonished doctor. “You found a way to make it possible for us to predict and control their… what did you call it? Glitches? We kept the generated genetic codes that was useful and gave it to the cloning department. This is the NXT1299 the first one to survive the rapid aging process.”_

_“Rapid aging?” Yixing had yelled out angrily. “How old is he?”_

_“Technically, it is 6 months old, but physically it is like 15 years old. That’s the age the glitches manifest usually. It lasted through the development process, but its condition is worsening rapidly. We can’t use this research to our advantage, if these things just keep dying.”_

_Yixing had stepped closer to the examination table where the little wide-eyed boy sat completely calm, staring at the doctor curiously._

_“Hello” Yixing said to the boy._

_“Hello!” The boy said in a thin voice, smiling a shy smile at the man._

_“I am Yixing. Do you have a name?”_

_Director Wong scoffed. “Dr Zhang, this is a laboratory experiment, the property of this research center. Not a pet for you to keep.”_

_“No, this is not a pet.” Yixing agreed turning towards the director with a sharp look. “HE is a person and you lost the right for possession when you decided to play god, while you have no idea what you’re doing” Director Wong had opened his mouth for a comeback but Yixing silenced him again. “Do you want me to save his life? Stop making more of them and I will help save the ones you already have.”_

_“That is not for you to decide.”_

_“Then I won’t help.”_

_“Would you let it… I mean HIM die just like that?”_

_Xukun, with his eyes still cast at the ground had prayed silently that Yixing would say yes, turn around and walk away, run as far as he can and hide away so they would never use his genius for such evil things again. But Zhang Yixing wouldn’t have been that amazing person Xukun had admired so much, if he would have been capable of walking away without helping the innocent._

_He heard Yixing walk towards the boy, the NXT1299 and gently lift his small hands between his own._

_“Zhibang” he said. “That will be your name, from now on.”_

 

“Xukun” Ronghao had greeted the captain of the Papillon once they were on the main meeting hall of Li Ronghao’s huge space station that was constantly orbiting the icy planet of Aradris. “And You Zhangjing? That’s a surprise, I haven’t seen you in a while. Good to know you are in good health. You look surprisingly thin.” 

Xukun was indeed a softie, especially when it comes to Zhangjing, since he agreed for the quartermaster to accompany him.

“Well, yeah losing weight is a change you welcome in a person you haven’t seen in a while” Zhangjing nodded. “Doing a full 180 on their beliefs is not.”  
Ronghao had shook his head sighing.

“So” Ronghao started. “I understand that you have questions for me.”

“Yes, and you better answer the right things or I’m not sure what I will do to you” Xukun said threateningly.

“Look, Xukun. I gave you and your crew this job because I wanted you to have some stability for once. I thought I would deal with the government and you guys can just do your thing and go away with your money. I like you way too much to watch you burn with that death trap ship of yours.”

“So you thought that working for the Nexum Prime would be a good opportunity? Chance to clean your name?” Xukun didn’t even try to hold back anymore, raising his voice in anger.

“I didn’t have a choice!” Ronghao said, still calm. “This commander, Lin or something is a menace, I’m telling you. The Finisher is the nickname they use in our circles. The Nexum Prime’s little prodigy, who is responsible for singlehandedly wiping out the underground network of the entire Second Ring! If that nightmare wants you to do something, you don’t say no, or you can say goodbye to your life.”

“But why didn’t you just tell us what was happening?”

“And what good that would have made you?” Ronghao asked. “Just unload the cargo down to my ship and be gone. I transferred you the money in advance when you docked so you can leave quickly. I’ll get it back when Commander Lin pays me. You don’t have to deal with all this.”

“I’m not sure I should be doing that” Xukun stated.

“I beg your pardon?” Ronghao let out a nervous chuckle. “This is not your decision to make. The cargo is not yours. You’re just a delivery man.”

“Well it neither is the Nexum’s. It’s stolen.”

“Stolen? Jin had found them floating in space, it belonged to nobody. He didn’t steal it.”

“Ronghao!” Zhangjing interrupted. “You and Jin clearly have no idea what are in those pods. Please, tell us what you know about all this!”

“I don’t know anything, and you shouldn’t either! Please, tell me you didn’t open them! I told you specifically not to open them! That was like the only instruction I gave you!”

“We didn’t need to” Zhangjing said. “It was labelled for us to know what’s in it.”

“Jin said the labels were in some sort of code, he didn’t understand anything on them” Ronghao looked at Zhangjing confused. “Do you know that code? How?”

Xukun motioned for the quartermaster not to answer the inquiry. Zhangjing rolled his eyes but decided not to resist the order.

“Never mind that” Xukun said. “I actually want to ask about the fourth pod. Did this Commander Lin told you about where it would be? Did they find it since then? Do they have some of these already? Do you know anything?” 

Ronghao shook his head. Xukun sighed out, his shoulders sagged. He didn’t really expect Ronghao to know anything, but he still was disappointed. If any of the clones are in this galaxy already they should be hidden. The Nexum shouldn’t know about this.

That’s why they came here in the first place six years ago.

 

_“Bangbang, what have you done again?” Xukun heard Zhangjing’s annoyed voice carry down the corridor._

_His job had started to be significantly easier as Yixing had basically commandeered over the whole department. He brought in his own team and had strictly prohibited anyone to refer to Zhibang as anything but a human being. A child._

_Being treated as a person had made wonders to the young boy also: he had become more social, less violent and more and more intelligent every day. Zhibang was way more advanced than any other clones in the series before, even Xukun could tell. He was smarter he was more complex, he was more… human. Xukun never had to use the control system built in him and he was grateful to that._

_He never enjoyed hurting Zhibang’s predecessors but even he had to admit that sometimes it was necessary. Like with the NXT1067, who had lived for exactly two days after his glitch had manifested but during those two days, he had attacked at least a dozen scientist with his sharp retractable claws slashing out at them. Xukun had to stop him somehow. He still couldn’t sleep at night because of that._

_Zhibang giggled happily jumping around the control room. Technically he wasn’t allowed in there, but Zhangjing was always lenient on the rules and Xukun let him indulge in it._

_“Zhangjing ge, I’m bored!” Zhibang said, smile widening._

_“You don’t look bored, little monkey!”_

_“I am good at pretending” the teen had pouted. “And I can’t wait for you to keep your promise!”_

_Zhangjing smirked at that, then he had schooled his facial expressions to look confused._

_“Promise? I hadn’t promised anything to you.”_

_“You did! Don’t lie!” Zhibang giggled. “You can’t fool me anymore. You promised to teach me how to sing that song I like so much”_

_“Ah, I see…” Zhangjing said, annoyance only faked now. “I guess I’ll have to then. But if you’re singing it off-tune, I’ll never teach you another song again.”_

_Zhibang wasn’t exactly musically inclined but he enjoyed it very much. Yixing had introduced him to it, it helped the boy focus his overactive mind. It helped him control his own glitch. Yixing thought that’s the key to their success: if Zhibang can control his own mind instead of researchers doing it for him by stimulating his brain with artificial stuff, he may just be in control of his own deteriorating health too._

_“Kun ge, do you think I sang it well?” Bangbang asked, hopping towards Xukun, where the security guard was standing by the lab’s door. He wished the boy wouldn’t be so attached to him, but for some reason he was Zhibang’s favorite even though he tried to keep a certain distance from him._

_“It was great” he answered curtly. Zhibang’s answering smile had melted Xukun’s heart. Zhangjing just looked at him with a knowing smile that could drive the guard to madness._

_“You are just a big grumpy softie, Cai Xukun.”_

 

“Okay. You can have the crates.” Xukun said finally, surprising Ronghao and Zhangjing.

“Xukun, you can’t be serious! You cannot let the Nexum Prime have them…” Zhangjing started off on a rant.

“Silence!” Xukun snapped at him. The older was so shocked he closed his mouth instinctively and Xukun didn’t give him time to collect himself. “Just let us go before anything would go wrong. Before your buyer gets here” He turned around on his heels to march towards the corridor back to the Papillon, his comm unit already in hand to tell Ziyi to start unloading when he noticed the people standing in the door. Especially the barrel of the gun in a woman’s hand which was pointed at him. The woman was accompanied by several burly men all in Nexum fleet uniforms.

Shit.

“Oh, I am afraid it’s too late for that, Captain.” The woman said. She was also wearing a uniform, so Xukun guessed she was also a soldier but for some reason, she seemed familiar to Xukun. She was rather tall for a woman, probably around Zhangjing’s height, her long black hair tied up in a neat ponytail on the back of her head, her dark eyes piercing and fiery, eyebrows pulled together strictly. Xukun quickly whacked his head where he might have met this woman in front of him, but he couldn’t place her no matter how hard he tried.

He was hoping he haven’t slept with her before or something. That would explain her fierce look though, but Xukun didn’t remember getting involved with any Nexum soldiers before.

“Commander!” Ronghao stood up nervously, getting closer to the woman. “You’re early and I am so sorry. No one alarmed me about your arrival, I would’ve given you a proper welcome.”

“Well, your negligence is unlucky for you, but very lucky for me, Mr. Li” she said, a lopsided smirk appearing on her face. Xukun would’ve sworn he had seen her somewhere before! “Because otherwise I wouldn’t have heard this enlightening conversation between you and your… subordinates. And I have to tell, I am quite interested how can a lowlife smuggler duo know so much about the technology they were hired to deliver.”

“It just seemed too fancy” Xukun tried to lie, but the Commander wasn’t buying it.

“Nice try, but not convincing enough, Captain. My men are sweeping your ship right at this moment. You and your crew are coming with us.”

 

The Papillon’s crew wasn’t exactly fond of being in captivity. Linkai was breaking a havoc, trashing and kicking at the two burly soldiers trying to hold his lean frame down, while Xikan was a nervous mess: he was one of the people that if identified, he would be prosecuted for literal treason. Fortunately, he happened to be also one of the best hackers Xukun know, so his ID codes as well as Nongnong’s had been erased from the Nexum database, but there was still a chance someone would recognize them who met them before. And of course, there was Ziyi. Xukun looked for his first mate quickly: the taller man was the epitome of quiet calmness as always, radiating the proud confidence of a general, even after so many years spent being considered one of the lowest of the low. Xukun knew that among the crewmembers, he was at the biggest risk at being exposed.

As for Yanjun… 

Wait a minute. Xukun looked around confused assessing the myriad of people around the Nexum battlecruiser’s grand landing bay, where they were all gathered, while other soldiers were hauling the three stasis pods under the careful watch of their Commander. He noticed how the woman had put extra layers of protection and sealed the pods in several more secure crates before hauling them in a hermetically closed off cargo area with a heavy safe door. It was an awful lot of protection for something that was on an impregnable battleship. But that’s not what occurred to Xukun right at that moment.

The Commander said they had swept the Papillon and took everyone in custody. Yet he couldn’t find either Yanchen or Yanjun. After he and Zhangjing were led closer to the rest of their friends he noticed they didn’t have Zhenghao either.

That was good.

“Zhenghao wandered off somewhere to Ronghao’s ship, talking about hearing someone speaking Sironian accent” Ziyi murmured to Xukun as they were led towards the holding cells trying to not gain attention from the heavily armed guards surrounding them. “I sent Yanjun after him to get him back, they weren’t on the ship when these guys came.”

“And what about Yanchen?” Xukun whispered back. Ziyi shrugged.

“He disappeared.” Xingjie said, walking in front of Xukun, his voice barely reaching the captain. “Xukun, he literally disappeared into thin air, I’m not joking, I’m scared shitless, I don’t know what happened to him.”

“Xingjie, don’t panic!”

“What if they had hurt him, like with all those people at Eidara, I can’t lose him…”

“Xingjie, get yourself together!” Xukun said a little too forcefully because the guard behind him whacked him in the back of the head to silence him. “We’ll get out of this, I promise, okay? And Yanchen’ll be just fine.”

Xingjie didn’t seem convinced but he remained silent.

This wasn’t the biggest Nexum battleship Xukun had encountered before and it was evident from the size of the holding cells as all the seven of them were herded in a single cell, bars separating them from two other cells on either side of them. One of them had been occupied by a single person who was sitting crouched against the bars, moving slightly as he registered the new arrivals. The other cell was empty.

“Why would they put all of us in one cell... that’s a rookie mistake” Linkai said, immediately darting around the small area assessing possible ways out.

“I am pretty sure, it’s not a mistake, Linkai.” Xikan shook his head, his eyes bulging out. “That woman was Commander Lin Meiling. She never makes mistakes and doesn’t tolerate any either.”

“The hot, scary-looking chick?” Linkai asked. “I have never heard of her.”

“Do you know her, Xikan?” Xukun asked. “Have we met her before somewhere? I don’t know why she would take all of us prisoners, this seems illogical.”

“Not personally, but everybody knows who she is at the Nexum Prime” the rest of the crew looked at Nongnong, who silently nodded in confirmation. “And I’m pretty sure, you’ve never met her before because if you did, you would be rotting in a prison somewhere. Again. My friend from the center, Jeffrey had worked on her ship before, but he was fired for a bug he couldn’t trace, and they were delayed a little from their schedule because of that” Xikan continued rambling.

“She is quite well-known for being one of the most ruthless officers of the Nexum army, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her before, even her father was quite a famous general back in the day” Linong said. “Like father, like daughter. She is a perfectionist. Some say she might be the first woman to be elected in the Nexum Prime.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised about that, considering how she’s Grand Admiral Wang’s little pet project” Xikan agreed with the doctor.

Ziyi’s head snapped up so quickly, that Xukun was afraid he gave himself a whiplash.

“Grand Admiral Wang?” he asked, holding on to the bars beside him, to steady himself. “Wang Jiaer?”

Xikan and Linong nodded. Shit. Xukun thought again. Ziyi’s grip on the bars had become so strong that his knuckles turned white.

“Have we been working to Jackson fucking Wang all this time?” his voice raised, anger seething in him, Xukun was afraid his first mate would snap the bars of the cell in half. “I can’t believe Ronghao got us into this mess.”

“But it still doesn’t explain her behavior.”

“I probably can answer the question about the cell” a voice, distinctively male but sounding very young had said behind Xukun. He whipped around to look at the man – no, it was just a boy – sitting on the floor of the other cell. He seemed pretty weak and quite out of it, but his eyes had a mischievous glint to them.

“I know who you are” the boy continued, looking Xukun in the eye. “You’re Captain Cai Xukun, Fen ge gave his old Firefly to you. There are a bunch of stories I’ve heard about you, I wanted to meet you so much the next time you come to Haradria” the boy tried to smile at Xukun, but he almost failed. “I guess I’m lucky, because you’re here, huh.”

“You know Qin Fen?” Xukun asked him, walking closer to the boy.

“Yes, I live with him and Bo ge. I help out at Fen ge’s workshop sometimes. My name is Zuo Ye” he said, pointing at himself. Xukun tried to think back the last time he talked to the couple at Haradria. He remembered Han Mubo mentioning that they had taken another stray boy in. Their “children”, they refer to them.

“It really nice to meet you, Zuo Ye” Xukun said. He motioned for Linong to come closer to the boy, but it wasn’t needed, the doctor was already squatting down beside the bars to examine the prisoner more closely. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, I am alright. Haven’t been eating much though, that’s why I don’t look that good probably.” Zou Ye shrugged. “I have kind of a standing arrangement with the hamster boy to give him half of my food portions and he gets me news.”

“The hamster boy?” Linong echoed confused. Zuo Ye nodded.

“Yeah, he comes around sometimes” he said. “Mostly to eat my food, he’s always fascinated with it, I’m not sure what to think of that. He can sneak around the ship unnoticed, it’s pretty cool, but for some reason he didn’t seem like he really wants to escape, though I’m pretty sure the third one supposed to be his cell.”

Xukun exchanged a look with his crew. Since when are prisoners allowed to wander around on ships? 

“Zou Ye, why are you here?” Xukun asked. He was pretty sure that “hamster boy” was actually just a technique to get information out of the boy, and Zuo Ye was clearly falling for it: he was speaking too leisurely and openly about this. There was absolutely no way the guards haven’t seen someone sneaking into prison cells on the security cameras.

“Well, I am the insurance” Zuo Ye said. “Fen ge had a friend in the 12th Ring that had some weird tech crashing down on his land from outer space. It seemed to be something useful according to the pictures so Fen ge had sent me, Zimo and Peiyao to collect it. Peiyao must have miscalculated something, he is quite dumb like that, I don’t even know why Zimo told him to navigate, because we ended up somewhere around here, instead of the Haradria. I mean, who can miscalculate a hyperjump with two whole rings? It would have been funny, if Bo ge hasn’t been waiting for us, because we had other stuff to do. Anyway, this ship had flagged us down, they somehow tracked the thingy in our cargo. We didn’t even know what it was, but they were interrogating us about why and how we opened it and spouted out a bunch of numbers at us, asking where the stuff is from inside… We didn’t even realize it was supposed to be a box or whatnot to have something in it and we definitely didn’t open it, but we told this to the commander lady in vain. She said she would keep me, while the others go and try to find the Enecstee something. Poor guys, they have no idea what to do, Bo ge and Fen ge must be worried sick by now. But Hamster Boy helps a lot. He said he will help me escape once he finds out something he wants to know.”

Xingjie cringed at that.

“Umm, Zuo Ye, maybe you shouldn’t talk about escape plans in a place full of security cameras?” he hushed the boy worriedly.

Zuo Ye actually laughed out loud.

“Oh, the cameras haven’t been recording audio now for a week, don’t worry. Hamster Boy made sure of that too. Now we only have to worry about the guard patrol, but he always knows when they’re getting closer, it’s pretty insane. Sharing such small portion of food is kind of a hassle though, but he does some mojo thing of his so I won’t get too tired I don’t really understand. He said it’s an Enecstee thing, so I guess he knows more about the weird box thingy than I do.”

“Enestee?” Linkai asked. “What’s that?”

“NXT” Zhangjing had corrected them automatically. All eyes turned to him suddenly.

“Zhangjing, what’s going on?” Ziyi asked, his voice weary. Zhangjing had looked into Ziyi’s eyes deeply.

“I’m so sorry, it’s my fault we were captured.”

“Zhangjing, you know that’s not true” Xukun had started off but he was interrupted by footsteps getting closer. Soon Commander Lin had appeared on the corridor and signaled his men to open the cell for her. 

“Well, what a team we have here… wow” she said looking down on her notepad. “Running your DNA scans had been quite an interesting experience I have to admit. I found the fake profiles easily, too easily so I made my guy do some digging around. So I found people like Wang Ziyi, former General of the rebel scum, the separatists who is supposed to be on the Jakuta according to our files. And of course, Wang Linkai and Zhu Xingjie, both orphans of the planet Sironia with a series of petty crimes attached to their names, quite a long list actually. We even managed to find, Dr Chen Linong and Li Xikan those were not easy. But imagine my surprise when I couldn’t find anything on these two new friends… no IDs, no hospital records, no criminal records, nothing. The Nexum knows nothing about the two of you and that’s not possible in this galaxy.”

Xingjie laughed cruelly.

“Well, maybe you don’t control everything after all!”

Commander Lin smirked, yet again invoking the déjà vu feeling in Xukun.

“Oh, but we do! Especially about the Alpha Galaxy. But we know enough about the Gamma Galaxy to realize when someone is from there. Like your lovely captain here.”  
This time it was Ziyi who laughed at the commander’s words and Xukun tried to join him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he lied, trying to force an innocent smile on his face.

“Aww, aren’t you the cutest?” Commander Lin cooed sarcastically. She swiftly unholstered her gun, pointed towards them, aimed and shot a bullet into Linong’s leg. Nongnong had cried out and collapsed to the ground in pain. The Papillon’s crew had started towards him, but the line of soldiers aiming at them stopped them in their tracks. “The next one will go to the doctor’s head unless you tell us what we want to know.”

“What do you want from me?” Xukun cried out, desperately wanting to run at Nongnong side, who was losing blood rapidly. 

“You already have the stasis pods, we cannot give you anything else!” Zhangjing added in panic.

“Don’t lie to me! The Yuehua sent you here to get the NXTs back, don’t even try to deny it! They wouldn’t have sent you here without a control unit! Where did you hide it? Give it to me!”

“We have been in this galaxy for years now, we don’t have a control unit anymore!” Zhangjing admitted. Xukun wished he would just shut up. “Please! I’m not lying, ask anyone! Ronghao, he would tell you he have been working with us for years now!”

Commander Lin eyed them for a long moment. Maybe Zhangjing’s honesty was a good tactic after all.

“We’ll see about that” was the only thing she said and motioned for his men to stand down and they left.

Zhangjing immediately flew to Nongnong side. “What do I do, talk me through it!”

“I think it hit my shin bone, but not any artillery.” Linong said breathlessly, wincing in pain.

“That’s good isn’t it?” Zhangjing said hopefully.

“Well, I do have a better chance at surviving, yes” Linong tried to smile through his pain, but it came out as more of a grimace. “But not so good for my leg… You need to bind the wound with something. To stop the bleeding.”

Ziyi quickly rushed to their side, stripping of his clothes, handing his clean undershirt to Zhangjing, who took it wordlessly, teared it into strips and tied it around the wounded leg with practiced ease.

“It needs to be tighter. Yes, that’s better” Nongnong sighed, still in pain. “I think I’ll live if we can disinfect it soon.”

Zhangjing had gripped the young doctor’s shoulder reassuringly. Xukun and the rest of the crew let out a sigh of relief, but they weren’t exactly calm just yet: Commander Lin clearly didn’t care whether they live or die, it won’t be an easy ride.

“We can’t do anything more for you then, Nongnong?” Ziyi asked firmly. Linong nodded. “Okay, then you two will explain now what is going on!”

 

_“Bangbang’s condition is better every day.” Yixing told the two of them as he was scrolling through Zhangjing’s research logs. “I’m still worried about him, but maybe we had isolated the problem already. Maybe this way we can manage to control the symptoms even if we can’t cure the illness._

_“So, you think Bangbang will live?” Xukun asked him, trying to not sound so hopeful but failing miserably. Yixing raised his soulful eyes at the guard contemplating something._

_“Yes, he will. But what life is this, Xukun?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Have you thought about how horrible is what we had done here? My team and I had developed everything unknowingly for them, so they can use it for entirely different things then what we originally planned with them.”_

_“I don’t really understand” Xukun looked confused. “Once you figure out how to stop the glitches, Bangbang’s blood and cells, and all the other clones that will come after him will be able to cure any disease! It’s everything your team had wished for, isn’t it?”_

_Yixing sighed out. Zhangjing seemed to understand what the doctor was implying._

_“They wouldn’t have given us so much money to develop control panels for the security.”_

_“No, they wouldn’t” Yixing nodded._

_“What are you two saying?” Xukun asked, still a little confused. Why does it matter how much money they invest in the security panel? Xukun had a device of his own: it has developed a lot over the years he was working here. Xukun knew how much power he had over the clones with that in his hands, but he would’ve never used it unless it was absolutely necessary. That was also what his boss had told him._

_“They don’t want us to get rid of the glitches.” Zhangjing said, shock and devastation sitting on his face. “This was the plan all along. They want to control their powers, not get rid of them.”_

_“Yes, and we hand delivered that solution to them in a damned silver plate.”_

_“Yixing, you didn’t know. You just wanted your team to be safe. Poor animals to not suffer from their weird abilities.”_

_“But I should have known!” Yixing snapped at the technician. He plopped himself back in his chair and buried his tired face in his hands. “And if I cure Zhibang I am basically handing them the last piece of the puzzle. They played me, like a fool. They knew I would never say no to heal an innocent being. That’s why I was here in the first place after all…”_

_Xukun finally understood. He looked at the panel strapped on his forearm in disgust: what if someone would force Bangbang to use his glitch? If someone would not use the commands to make the often-agitated teen back off before he harmed anyone but actually send him to attack someone? He was strong, he was quick, he was smart._

_Their precious little Bangbang can turn into a killing machine. The thought seemed so absurd to Xukun yet it was so real, he panicked. They cannot let this happen._

_But what could they do?_

_“We have to leave” He concluded out loud. “We’ll take Bangbang and don’t look back. We can hide away, and their project would stay unfinished. No one else can figure it out, can’t they? If you are not here, they eventually have to stop.”_

_Yixing smiled at Xukun._

_“I am not that important anymore, I’m afraid” he said. “They would eventually figure it out, and then what would happen? They’ll start mass producing the NXT series and no one would be here to teach them about normal behavior. About how to be human. They would be treated like less than an animal, can you imagine how dangerous that can be? A clone without any common sense, just cold orders they blindly follow? No, I cannot let that happen. I need to be here to at least give them a chance.”_

_Yixing paused staring off to nothing for a minute._

_“But you two will go. And you’ll take Bangbang with you.”_

_Zhangjing shook his head frantically._

_“We won’t leave you here! Yes, Bangbang needs to go, I understand. It would take them a long time to recreate his genetic coding and it would take time for them to develop a viable clone again, yes. But I cannot leave you here without any allies! Even in our team, no one would understand your view. You need me. You need Xukun too! What will you do when you get a guard who would constantly hurt the next clone?” he told the calm doctor agitated._

_“Not to mention the retaliation” Xukun added. “Do you think letting Zhibang go wouldn’t end in punishment for you?”_

_“I’ll manage, you don’t have to worry for me. There must be at least a few other people in this forsaken facility that think similar to us. And as for the punishment, I know how to play dumb. I mean you are the one with the control unit here.”_

_Xukun’s eyes widened._

_“No! Absolutely not! We sure can come up with a better plan!”_

_“You just said I need to seem innocent in the escape and it needs to be believable. Bangbang can knock me unconscious and you can control him to do it. And smile for the security cameras while you’re at it.”_

_“You’re really set on doing this, don’t you?” Xukun asked worriedly._

_“I am.”_

_“But… I am not a doctor! And neither is Xukun!” Zhangjing cried out desperately. “Bangbang will need treatment. Who knows how leaving the planet will affect his glitch! If his conditions worsen, we can’t save him. And where on this galaxy would we be safe from the world’s richest company and the strongest government there is?”_

_“We did everything we can to save him. If he can stay stable, he won’t have a problem.” Yixing said, he looked them in the eye, his face deadly serious. “We have to do this now, before they read our last reports and start analyzing him for reproduction. But you’re right with one thing, though.”_

_“Oh really, now?” Zhangjing said, still disbelieving that Yixing was talking about all this seriously. “And what would that be?”_

_“There is no safe place for you in this galaxy. But luckily I know a way out for you.”_

 

“So to sum it up” Linkai started off. “In the Gamma Galaxy, or Avion as you call it, a supervillain company is dead set on creating superhumans with these abilities… glitches you called them? And somehow the Nexum Prime has them in those crates we had on the ship?” 

Xukun nodded. “Yes, that’s basically it.”

“But what?” Linkai was still confused. “They bought them and then promptly dropped them in open space for Oyang Jin and apparently Qin Fen to find them? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t” Zhangjing shook his head. “We are missing something. I’m guessing they weren’t purchased because she wanted to get our control unit. I’m pretty sure that they are not giving them away without those, it’s probably included in the package.”

“And what is a control unit?” Ziyi asked.

“Every genetically manipulated organism created in the research center has a sort of safety switch programmed into their genome, so if something goes wrong, they can be stopped” Xukun said. “At first it was just that, a switch to give them electroshock and that would render the glitches useless but as the research advanced, they made us advance the control units too. The doctor in charge wanted to make the glitches disappear it was meant to be a temporary solution, but he was tricked. They wanted control over them not to cure them. Now, you can give them specific orders and they would have no choice to follow. And who knows what else they had built in them since we left…”

“And that’s what you were doing there?” Xikan asked in a tiny voice. “You were with the security personnel. You hurt them?” Xukun looked at the navigator, the disgust obvious in his face.  
It wasn’t easy to come clean to the crew. Looking at their faces, most of them reflected confusion and disturbance at the thought of their government having so much power. Xukun had seen Zuo Ye listening to the story intently, recognition slowly dawning on the young boy too. Linong seemed to be paying attention too, despite his heavy breathing and obvious pain. Right now, everyone was focusing on understanding the situation but Xukun knew that they’d eventually got to the part where their friends would question the morality of their past too. The captain didn’t look forward to that.

“Not if I could help it” he told Xikan honestly. Silence set on the group after that, everybody trying to put the pieces together.

“Well” Zuo Ye’s voice had startled the crewmembers out of their reverie, chuckling. “We know they have Hamster Boy. Well… having him may be a strong word since they can’t catch him.”

“Your Hamster Boy…” Xukun turned towards the other prisoner. “What do you know about him? Why can’t they catch him?”

“Well, he is definitely one of your NXT things, but he said his name is actually Quanzhe.”

“Quanzhe?” Xikan asked. “That’s what he said?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t speak much though, to be honest” Zuo Ye shrugged. “He said they let him out and put him in the cell, but apparently it was easy to break out of it. Now that I heard what he is, I understand why it has been so easy for him. But they underestimated him, I think. Quanzhe said he overheard them referring to him as “the useless one” so he was given to Commander Lin to ship him to Nexus, but she kind of screwed up, when she let him out.”

“The useless one?” Ziyi echoed. “That kind of implies that they have “useful ones” too. That’s not good.”

“Quanzhe and Yuehua” Xikan said again, his eyebrows furrowing even further. Xingjie looked at him confused but decided to ignore him.

“So I guess the useful ones are the ones we just brought in. How can a superhuman be useless anyway? And if he could leave the ship why didn’t he left it by now?” Xingjie asked.

“Zuo Ye just said he wants something” Xukun said. “And I don’t think they were talking about our pods. The useless one was given to Commander Lin to be shipped to Nexus. That implies that they already had the useful ones.”

“And our cargo is probably just the gratis?” Linkai said.

“It makes sense.” Xingjie nodded along. “The commander screws up by losing the one she was supposed to be in charge of and she wants to compensate by bringing in more of these, so she intimidates Ronghao because she is panicking.”

“Retaliation for such mistakes is very much Jackson’s style, if he really is the one behind all this” Ziyi added morosely. “It would explain why she is so hard-headed.”

“But it still doesn’t explain why they would drop the four other crates out! Why would the lady would be so happy about capturing it if they left them there in the first place? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an accident” Linkai pressed on. No one really had an answer to that.

“Maybe they are the rescue team” Zuo Ye said. Xukun looked at him confused. Would that make any sense?

“The commander thought that you two are agents sent here to collect them back” The boy went on. “You’re clearly not that, so I guess they must have sent someone if they’re that valuable.”  
Xukun shook his head. “No, they wouldn’t have sent the prototypes out by themselves without any control.”

“Well…” Zhangjing hesitated. “Probably not the Board. But… the pods were sealed by Yixing’s personal encryption. He was our boss, he always cared way too much about the clones as people not as test subjects, the other scientists and the company leaders had very much hated him because of that” the quartermaster explained to the others. They haven’t exactly told them about how and why they got into this galaxy, it was not the time or place just yet for that talk. Xukun wasn’t ready for that for sure. It was too painful to talk about.

 

_“Bangbang, please forgive me for what I have done to you.”_

_They have been flying in hyperspace for three days now and during those three days Zhibang haven’t said a word to Xukun. He hadn’t said a single word to him ever since Xukun had tapped away on his panel and forced the boy to render his beloved Yixing ge unconscious, to use his glitch to jam the signals of the alarm systems so the three of them could make out their way from the research facility and leave the Planet Yuehua behind on a stolen ship. The moment they left the planet’s shield behind, the shield shading the planet from incoming radio signals, Bangbang had collapsed in pain. His glitch, which made him recipient for every radio signal sent around him in the air was way too sensitive to bear the numerous channels and information broadcasted in the open space, so Zhangjing quickly entered hyperspace where he knew the boy would have an easier way to adjust himself for the new, intense sensations._

_But Xukun painfully had to admit that Zhibang was afraid of him now. He didn’t trust him anymore. Zhibang looked at him long and hard: his contemplating gaze practically piercing Xukun’s skin as if the boy was seeing him for the first time._

_“I am not mad at you, Kun ge” he said suddenly. “I am scared.”_

_“You don’t have to be scared of me, I’m…”_

_“Of myself” Zhibang had interrupted Xukun mid-sentence. Xukun looked at the boy completely shocked: he seemed so small, sitting there, perched on a padded bench, his legs drawn near his chest tight, his arm encircling them, playing with his bare toes absentmindedly. He seemed so innocent, so harmless. Something precious. Something to be protected. “I know why you did it. I’m not stupid you know. And I have advanced hearing. You, Xing ge and Jing ge should have talked about your plan further away from my lab. I knew what was going on.”_

_Xukun hadn’t expected that answer. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was talking to a person that was engineered to be hyper-intelligent._

_“Then why are you afraid?”_

_“I’m scared of what else can I do. I’m scared I’ll hurt you or Jing ge.”_

_Xukun looked at the boy, contemplating what to say. His fear unfortunately wasn’t completely unfounded, but Xukun thought it was still ridiculous and he told this to Bangbang._

_“You know why I know you wouldn’t hurt us?” he started. “Because you, Zhibang, are a good person. You know that I’m capable of beating up Zhangjing badly and yet I’m not scared that I will do it one day, and Zhangjing isn’t scared of me either. Because we both know that I’m also a good person. I won’t hurt my friends. And neither will you, because you’ll choose not to hurt us.” He lifted his arm, to show his pad to the boy, taking of the Velcro bands that had fastened it to his forearms. “Where we are going, this will be the only thing that can control you other than your own choices and I’ll destroy it right now” he lifted the device to the air to smash it to the ground but Zhibang had stilled his hands._

_“Don’t. Kun ge, you know I’m not always in control. So you have to promise to use this, if you think you cannot stop me otherwise.”_

_Xukun looked at the boy’s open, pleading face in complete shock. He wanted him to be reassured, he wanted him to be confident, but he knew he cannot have it all._

_“All right. I promise.” He agreed. And he also promised himself, that he would do anything so he wouldn’t have to fulfill the previous promise in the first place.  
_

 

“Brothers!” Xikan exclaimed loudly. “No one needs to send them here. They are brothers and they want to save the others.” 

“What?” Xukun asked. “That’s not how it works. The clones live in isolation, they definitely don’t interact with each other.”

“Yes, familial bond was always rather unreliable when we were testing it on animals.” Zhangjing nodded.

“Well, we know that’s not how it works now, don’t we?” Xikan said, his usual enthusiasm manifesting on his face. “Am I the only one who actually listened? Quanzhe! And Yuehua! He played us all, I can’t believe we missed it! It’s fascinating!”

“Xikan, can you please assume we don’t know anything and tell us what you actually understood?” Xingjie asked annoyed.

“Zhengting” Linong gasped out. He accidentally moved his leg from excitement but immediately winced in pain. He laughed painfully. “He even told us he’s from Yuehua. And it’s not a coincidence he wasn’t captured with us.” 

“Yes!” Xikan exclaimed. “Zhangjing and Xukun didn’t hear it, and we assumed it was irrelevant, just the shock talking. But he wasn’t shocked. He just didn’t know what he can tell us. And the subspace! How could I miss it? They were talking to each other and they were talking to Zhengting! That’s why I couldn’t isolate the fourth transmitter on the ship because Zhengting was just walking around freely and I assumed it’s a static object! And he couldn’t shut up about his brothers, one of them named Quanzhe. He was the one that loved animals!”

“No, that was Xinchun, Quanzhe is the arts and crafts prodigy, but that’s not the point now…” Linong corrected the navigator absentmindedly, but he couldn’t go on any further. He was losing consciousness. Zhangjing tried to make him stay awake while he was kneeling by him, but it was basically a windmill fight. 

Xukun couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And then, he couldn’t believe how he missed it, while it was right in front of his eyes.

“Xikan, you told me this morning, that the EMF sensors are back and that the subspace channels had been disconnected between the crates. Why then?” Xikan wrecked his brain to find an answer to the captain, but in the end, he didn’t need to do so, because a voice said above them.

“Because they’re empty now.” Xukun looked up in alert. There he was, one of the metal panels of the ceiling moved a head with a messy mop of blond hear crowning it: a face, so familiar yet so foreign, he could immediately tell who he is. Quanzhe reminded Xukun more to his old predecessor, Zhibang than his self-proclaimed brother, but the captain could see the same look in the young boy’s eyes as he did in Zhengting’s. “My geges are on your ship. They’ll come and save us. With your Yanchen and your Zhenghao and Ting ge’s boyfriend.” The boy had easily dropped himself in the middle of their cell soundlessly, like a four-meter fall is nothing for him, the crew of the Papillon looking at him in astonishment. Quanzhe looked them all over curiously and zoned in on Zhangjing. 

“You know Yixing gege? You’re from the center? That’s why you two have been talking in the Avian language before?”

Xukun needed a moment to realize that the boy said the three questions in said language, seeing the others’ confused faces. Xukun and Zhangjing shared a look: how did the boy know about their talk this morning?

“Yes” Zhangjing said in the end. “So you are from the center? You’re part of the NXT series?”

“Apparently, but I never knew that before I didn’t hear these people talking about it” Quanzhe said. “I didn’t really talk to anyone else than my brothers and Xing ge before. Justin, Chengcheng and I haven’t been trained yet. But it explains this.” Quanzhe pulled up the left sleeve of his hoodie revealing the code NXT2001 tattooed into his forearm with tiny block letters.

“Trained?” Xukun asked.

“Trained. Like they did it with Ting ge, Wenjun ge, Xinchun ge and Zeren ge.”

“Umm…” Linkai interrupted them. “Excuse me, hello. Quanzhe, right?”

“Yes, hi! You must be Linkai! The legendary Xiao Gui!” The boy turned to the pilot.

“Yes, I am. I don’t know how you know about that, but okay. You can speak English. Can you please use it? We kind of also want to know what is going on.”

“Right, sorry. I can speak English. It was rude to exclude you from the conversation. Ting ge would scold me for it. He told me to use English here all the time, even talking to them” Quanzhe told him earnestly.

“All right, that was smart from… Ting ge?” Xukun nodded. “I assume that’s Zhengting.”

Quanzhe nodded.

“So you two talked?”

“Yes, I felt them when we arrived, but I lost the connection with them when we entered hyperspace again” Quanzhe confirmed.

“That’s good. And do they have a plan?” Xukun asked again. “Do you know it?”

“Well, they will follow us to our destination and then they will get in and get us out.” Quanzhe said as if it’s the most trivial thing in the world. “Until then, I have to find their tracking device, so we could find out where Justin and Chengcheng had been sent” Quanzhe walked to Linong while talking, his bare feet barely giving out any sound as he padded over and kneeled near the doctor’s injured leg. He pulled Linong’s shredded trousers up from his calf and gently caressed his ankle before holding on to it, careful not to move it too much. No one tried to stop him doing so. As he was holding on, he turned towards the prisoner in the other cell. “Zuo Ye, you’re going home!”

“Really?”

“Yes, we’re going to Haradria. They want to talk to your gege, because they think he has Ting ge.”

“That’s not exactly a good thing, Quanzhe. Fen ge hasn’t even met your Ting ge, they’ll hurt him if he can’t answer them.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure out something by then.” Quanzhe told him to calm the agitated boy down. “But now, I got tired, I need to sleep. You don’t have food yet, don’t you? Maybe I shouldn’t have used my glitch before thinking about that.”

“What?” Zhangjing looked at the boy confused, searching for a meaning and he got it very quickly. Linong suddenly sat up, way too quickly and way to easily for someone who has been shot just a short time ago and looked at the boy with gaping eyes. He reached for the makeshift bandage on his leg and removed it. Something clattered on the floor: Xukun noticed it was the bullet.  
And where the bullet wound should have been there was nothing: only smooth scarless skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bad thing about writing RPF in an alternate universe is that you need a villain. I apologize to every Jackson stan, I love him very much, but I didn't want to make up too many original characters. I had struggled with this Commander chick too, because I didn't feel confident enough to include any female Chinese idols. I mean, I don't know any of them well enough to write a quite important character based on them. I know, it's not like Jackson will be very much like himself, but it's still better that I can fall back on my knowledge of him and he won't be in the story that much.  
> So, there was a lot of explanation and exposition in this chapter, which is meant to set up the action in the making. I hope it's not that disappointing. Also, of course Mufen is married, this seems to be an undisputable fact of life in the fanfiction world XD  
> The good news is that after a massive writer's block and issues with a hard-ass semester+work I'm back and I actually have the rough draft for the next three chapters plus a short interlude chapter. But unfortunately for this fic, my beta and overall awesome big sister has to work overtime a lot (working in finance around New Year is not fun) so I won't be uploading them too quickly. So, next there will be short interlude chapter with our new character, Meiling and then we'll FINALLY get to Zhengting.  
> I absolutely love your comments and thoughts about this and I'll be better at answering them from now on, so feel free to leave one, thank you! :)  
> Everyone, Happy New Year and stream Back To You!


	8. Intermission 2: Meiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three days ago, she ordered her crew to open the stasis pod with the decryption key Admiral Wang has given them for emergencies. And with that decision, she joined the line of the other screw-ups.  
> It had been three days rattled with a series of annoyances: security cameras malfunctioning, doors getting sealed off randomly disturbing patrols, important generator components getting misplaced, her inner-ship sensor scans coming out blind, food getting stolen from the mess hall: nothing too big, but they were sure annoying her to no end.  
> “Well, it’s a child after all.” Lieutenant Huang had concluded more wisely than he thought himself.  
> Because that was what Meiling had been doing: she had turned into the worst babysitter of the galaxy.
> 
> Commander Lin Meiling is facing the biggest challenge of her career and she keeps refusing to fail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short intermission to foreshadow what's to come...

“Commander why are we going to…?” Lieutenant Huang started to ask, but he was silenced by a single look. Meiling rolled her eyes at the frightened navigator: he might have been really smart, but he was not fit for military service at all. He proved himself to be useful today though, when he recognized one of their new prisoners to be his old university roommate Li Xikan, making the identification of the rest of them much easier.

“Don’t speak about plans and destinations out loud” she told them few days ago and had to continuously remind them every minute. “He can hear us.”

So by now, the whole crew had to learn the basic letters in the standard sign language to spell out coordinates and planet names. Their little parasite knew too much already.

Meiling had never felt so angry with herself and her job before as she felt now. Ever since the day Admiral Wang had invited her into his private office she had been on edge, every cell in her body screaming at her. This was not right. This was not how it supposed to happen.

Admiral Wang only invited his most trusted advisors to these private meetings and Meiling felt proud at first to be actually included in this elite company. But soon she found out, that her role in the Grand Admiral’s magnificent plan was way less significant as she would deserve it.

“There’s absolutely no way we can control them together” The admiral told them. “We have to separate them, together they’re too strong. General Chen, your job is to distribute them into different Nexum army bases for further examination, your choice. The rest of you will assist the distribution. Only the people in this room are allowed to know where they actually are. These weapons are invaluable. The NXT series is the key, that’s what my source said, so they’ll probably try to steal them back.”

“What does that mean? That they’re the key?” General Chen asked.

“We don’t know yet.” Admiral Wang shook his head. “My source had given us detailed descriptions about their abilities, but they said that the head of the research team has not yet shared every information with the company leadership. He has private repositories that are not accessible for anyone else but him. But once we have them, we can examine them more closely and figure it out what they meant.”

Meiling’s eyebrows had raised visibly. Admiral Wang must have noticed because he turned towards her.

“You seem to have doubts, Commander Lin. Care to share with us?”

Meiling looked around the room full of generals and admirals: the pride of the Nexum Prime. She’d never liked feeling small and this room full of people, much more important, much older than her made her feel dwarfed. She quickly righted her posture. She learned to school her emotions way too early in her life, not to show any sign of weakness. It was a necessity that her father had made sure that she would not forget, ever.

She looked the Grand Admiral dead in the eye.

“Sir, this is too risky” she said. “You… clearly don’t have enough intel about these weapons to use it. Yes, we know what they’re capable of, but as the research logs state they have never been tested outside of a laboratory environment. They had been isolated, they never interacted with anything but themselves and probably scientists.”

“What are you trying to say, Commander, speak clearly.” Admiral Wang waved her off when she paused for a moment to catch her breath. “The Nexum Prime is paying a fortune for this technology. If you seem to find a problem with it, I want to know. “

“I’m not a scientist, so I’m not sure, but these prototypes are definitely not ready yet. They are under development and they are not reliable. A beta version, you could say. It might only sell well because we’re paying for early access. You say that the NXTs are the key. You said there are seven of them. We’re only getting three. They might be useless like this. To speak frankly sir, this deal is bleeding from several wounds. I’m afraid we are being scammed.”

She wanted to tell the admiral that she thought that he was an idiot for even trusting anyone from the Gamma Galaxy to give them reliable information let alone to steal them some invaluable alien technology but that would have surely ended her promising career in minutes.

“Thank you for your opinion, Commander, but the informant is an insider who wants to live without a problem or any duties for the rest of his life in this galaxy. I’m providing that for him and I assure you that the exchange is mutually beneficial. I had made the deal personally and I’m not really used to my subordinates questioning my decisions.”

_Did you say that to your separatist comrades when you decided to betray their cause for the highest bidder?_ Meiling wondered but she decided to stay silent. She was already risking too much for speaking so freely. But that was it when you were invited for a private council with a consul of the Nexum Prime: this could make her or break her. And she refused to break.

She - unlike others - knew what her duty towards her heritage was.

And that was the only reason she had even accepted when General Chen had decided it was her job to take the NXT2001 to Nexus.

“Everybody will assume we’ll take the stronger ones to stronger bases. That’s why you are taking the useless one back to the First Ring.” General Chen said. Meiling rolled her eyes internally: everybody would assume that because that was the only logical decision, if he wanted to protect the NXTs from the world (and they should have considered the other way around as well in her opinion) but General Chen seemed like he didn’t care about such simple things as basic strategy, as he tried too hard to be cunning.

It was a way too long journey back to the Nexus, delayed many times as per General Chen’s orders but Meiling decided not to be in such a hurry as she caught the underground intel about the appearance of the other stasis pods. She informed Grand Admiral Wang about it personally, she could tell he was impressed with her. He told her how disappointed he was in General Chen’s strategy for distribution. He told her to bring the four pods back to Nexus safely and then they TOGETHER would decide what to do with them.

Meiling had felt justified in her logic when she heard the news about Eidara six days ago. Half of a city's population disappearing. Then four days ago she heard how the other prototype had destroyed the only control unit they had. These were big screw-ups for both General Chen and the Grand Admiral as well: she was hoping that this might be her chance to prove her worth.

The useless one. The weak one. If she would find a way to control this one, they might have a better chance to control the other two. They have a familial bond: she just had to make sure that this one would obey her; the others would follow.

Three days ago, she ordered her crew to open the stasis pod with the decryption key Admiral Wang has given them for emergencies. And with that decision, she joined the line of the other screw-ups.

It had been three days rattled with a series of annoyances: security cameras malfunctioning, doors getting sealed off randomly disturbing patrols, important generator components getting misplaced, her inner-ship sensor scans coming out blind, food getting stolen from the mess hall: nothing too big, but they were sure annoying her to no end.

“Well, it’s a child after all.” Lieutenant Huang had concluded more wisely than he thought himself.

Because that was what Meiling had been doing: she had turned into the worst babysitter of the galaxy.

She needed to find a way to control them. She needed to get the answer out of her prisoners.

Lieutenant-Commander Jiang – Meiling got used to call him that for a long time now. The times when the two of them were on a first-name basis had been long over – strode towards her with a serious expression and nodded curtly.

_He healed the boy,_ the soldier signed her. _Just as you predicted._

She smirked. Shooting a civilian had been unpleasant even with the knowledge that he would be probably healed right after, but it was necessary.

“Bring the captain to a soundproof hearing room” she ordered out loud. If the kid heard them, they would discuss a strategy now and the clone would disappear again.

_Good. Do it. Then you won’t be watching us for the next conversation._

Meiling had to admit that the two Avians had way too many connections in this galaxy. Gathering such impressive crew must have been a feat even if it was accomplished over years and it was impossible to do so for a pair that just arrived here mere weeks ago, so she knew they were probably telling her the truth. The softer one broke, she knew he would. They know more about the NXTs than they should and Meiling needed to know whether they have something useful or not. And they were necessary to finally get the last one too.

Meiling tapped Lieutenant Huang on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Is the device ready to use?” She asked him. The technician nodded.

“I am not sure what it will do, but it is operating properly according to my scans”

“This is different than the one the prototype 2000 broke, correct?”

“Yes, Commander.” He nodded. “This seems like an earlier model. I’m not sure how it will work on the new prototypes, but if they come close enough to you, it should work efficiently.”

Great. Everything was according to her plans.

Now it was time to deal with the captain.

 

Said prisoner seemed strangely unaffected by his surroundings in the bland hearing room: he was swaying on the back legs of his chair, picking at his nails nonchalantly as Meiling had observed him to find a way to approach him. As if he had not a care in the world: as if Meiling hadn’t just shot one of his crewmembers.

“Will you come in, or I have to sit here for another hour or two?” Cai Xukun said, his voice raised so Meiling would definitely hear him. She didn’t hesitate any further, she grabbed the handle of the door and entered swiftly.

“Sorry for making you wait” she smiled at the prisoner. The captain raised one of his eyebrows, his handsome face still maintaining a cocky expression.

“Huh” he said, a slight smirk appearing on his face. “You’re actually pretty when you’re not frowning.”

Meiling wanted to hit him so badly. She wanted to wipe that smirk off that annoyingly perfect face, but she remained calm in the outside. She sat down on the chair opposite to him, handing him a mug of tea that she ordered her subordinates to make for her prisoner.

“You can have this, I hope you like green tea.”

“Yes, I do. Thank you very much” The captain said reaching forward and taking the mug from the table, carefully sipping it. “It’s perfect, thank you. Who would have thought someone would understand tea on a Nexum battleship...” he looked up from under his fringe, his soft brown eyes locking with Meiling’s, something dangerous tingling in them.

“You don’t know much about the Nexus then.”

“Oh, I know enough” Xukun said. “You might have a great taste in tea, but you still shot one of my men.”

“He’ll be fine, I’m a master sharpshooter. I know how to cause pain without any permanent damage.” Meiling said, forcing herself not to flinch from the guilt she actually felt. “And he’ll be treated with the greatest care this ship can provide, immediately after you and I finish here. I’m even willing to let your criminal friends go freely if you give me what I want. Well, except for General Wang Ziyi, of course. He’ll be shipped off to Nexus to face his judgement in front of the Nexum Prime. You might not have been here during the Unification Movement, but you must understand how important it is for us to eliminate anything that can cause damage to the Union.”

“That’s a fair offer.” Xukun nodded contemplating. He sat his mug down. “But I must decline. I don’t often say this to pretty girls like you, but I cannot give you what you want.”

“Drop the act already!” Meiling had waved off the prisoner’s flirting. She immediately regretted it: she shouldn’t have showed any reaction at all. She must not lose control, but he was good at this game.

“I will, if you do” Xukun said, leaning forward, looking straight into the commander’s eyes again. “You don’t have to pretend, I have heard stories about you. You won’t let us go, I can tell. But you underestimate us gravely. You got yourself into something you don’t understand and that’s why we’ll get out of this unharmed.”

Meiling stayed silent, trying to read the captain.

“You are an interesting person, Commander” He continued. “You don’t have any tells, you’re way too professional for that. But your crew does. They would die for you, all of them and that means you care about them as much as they care about you. So, you’ll understand when I say, I’ll destroy you. You shouldn’t have shot Nongnong.”

Meiling had hold the captain’s gaze, challenging him back. Inside, she was furious: how dare he, this low-life nobody comparing his mismatched bunch of criminals to her trained and tested, personally handpicked professionals? She forced a smile on her face.

“You might be right.” she said. “I would be a bad leader if I cannot make my crew believe in me. But the thing is that if I let you get away, then it’ll be us who would be in a difficult situation. And I won’t let that happen.”

“And I won’t let you have your way either” Xukun stated, leaning back on his chair again.

“Then, we’ll see who has the upper hand here” she said as she stood up. Xukun just sat on his chair his eyes following her figure as she left the room.

“Yes, we’ll definitely see” he murmured.


	9. Chapter 6: Zhengting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Zhengting was about to open the door, he heard a knock yet again. He instinctively let go of Wenjun’s hand and took a step back from the door as it opened.  
> Of course, it would be Yanjun to sneak up on them. The gunman looked at the younger for a long moment a smile spreading on his lips, his dimples showing.  
> “Hey” he said and continued to stare at Zhengting. The frozen boy had to quickly asses just how much Yanjun would remember from yesterday.  
>  _Your boyfriend doesn’t remember he kissed you and that you betrayed him_ Wenjun reminded him helpfully, his words stinging his older brother’s heart.  
>  _But your date still happened, so he’ll probably would want to kiss you for the first time again, if he gets the opportunity_ Xinchun quipped in. Zhengting could smell his brother’s amusement over the predicament. So much about his empathy…
> 
> Annoying little brothers, confusing other-galaxy customs and feelings. Feelings everywhere. Welcome to Zhengting's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sleep, I exam, I update. I'm on fire. Who else can't wait to listen to Lin Yanjun's EP?

Zhenghao had a similar light pink blend of mischief and curiosity as Justin had and normally Zhengting would stare at it for hours, thinking about his precious didi but not this morning.

The collective tension and agitation of the crew of the Papillon had morphed an ice-cold blue fog that smelled awful in the mess hall the morning they exited hyperspace near their destination. Aradris, the planet was called as Xikan explained it to Zhengting, his bright orange enthusiasm glowing at the fact that Zhengting genuinely seemed to care about what he was saying. A planet covered by ice. Zhengting had never seen ice before, only wrapped in a cloth to put on bruises they accidentally gave themselves while playing around, but even that became unnecessary once Quanzhe learned to use his glitch. Zhengting had sat down at the breakfast table with the crew as usual but he could barely eat anything from the nausea the atmosphere in the room was causing him. Alas, he knew he might need his strength, so he forced down some of Zhangjing’s otherwise heavenly tasting pancakes, snatched three cinnamon buns into his tracksuit’s pockets when no one was looking and headed back to his designated cabin after a quick goodbye.

Zhengting had learned something new about human nature every single day at the Papillon, as he tried to decode the myriad of colors and smells that surrounded and bound the crew together. He remembered complaining and wanting an easy way out of his unique ability: he was trying to put together a mental manual, a guide to understand human feelings more: like how red is happiness, green is disgust and so on, but he had to quickly realize that it wasn’t that easy as he soon noticed that while Xinchun’s blue meant that he was content, Zeren’s blue meant suffocation. While Wenjun’s pink meant embarrassment, Quanzhe’s was affection. Everyone had an underlying dominant color, a “base” that defined them and altered their other markers. But here, among these people with so many different colors with so many different feelings attached to them, Zhengting had to admit that he was far from understanding his powers good enough to anticipate how a person would behave.

 _Nothing and no one in this world are black and white, Zhengzheng_ Yixing ge always used to say. _You of all people should know that._

Zhengting wondered what the doctor was doing now that he sent them away. He wanted to see the always-smiling scientist so badly: he wanted to go back to him as soon as possible.

 _Hurry up, Ge! I’m hungry_ he heard Zeren’s voice in his mind, dragging him back to the present.

 _You can only blame yourself_ Xinchun scolded him. _You shouldn't use your glitch to stalk people._

_I’m not stalking! I’m gathering information about the ship and the crew._

_It’s not like you can't hear everything in the Engine Room perfectly fine from Ting ge's room._ Wenjun piped in.

Zeren fell silent for a minute.

_I need visual aides to understand._

_Visual aides?_ Xinchun echoed. _Just admit it, you want to stare at Smiley Boy._

 _I won’t admit anything that’s not true!_ Zeren said vehemently. _I’m learning about the ship’s functioning!_

Zhengting just let them bicker. That was what they have been doing since they entered the Papillon anyway. He arrived back to his room, to find his brothers all there, physically sitting around, trying to make as little sound as possible.

They needed to leave the ship today. They couldn’t go on like this. As much as the Papillon’s crew was nice and mostly unobtrusive, they would soon realize that Zhengting was not alone his room.

And following the crates was the best chance they got to find the others. That was the plan all along… well, at least until Zhengting had met the wonderful crew of the Papillon. Ever since then, he had to try really hard to convince himself that the plan shouldn’t change.

 _They don’t know what we are_ Wenjun had to remind him, when he came to them panicking with words like “monster” and “shiny new toy” echoing in his mind. _I’m sorry Zhengzheng, but Xing ge was right. We cannot trust them._

 _They would never help us freeing Justin after all this_ Zhengting reluctantly agreed.

 _They think he’s dangerous. Who knows, they might want to hurt him_ Xinchun added sadly. _I’m sorry, I know you’ve become friends with them, but what people don’t understand, they fear. Xing ge told us this, do you remember? After you overheard the other scientists talking about us. And those were the nice ones._

Zhengting knew all that, of course and Xinchun knew that he knew. Keeping secrets is not something possible when your mind is connected to your brothers’ all the time.

 _Hey._ Zeren said, interrupting Zhengting’s train of thought _. Do you hear this? Listen!_

The other three looked at each other confused, then decided to focus on extending their hearing range. They zeroed on what Zeren meant almost simultaneously and paled in shock in the same time.

 _Are they?_ Wenjun asked.

 _Yes? No. Yes!_ Xinchun said in disbelief.

 _I can’t believe this!_ Zeren voice snapped through in Zhengting’s mind like a whip. His youngest brother present had shot up from his sitting position, turned on his glitch, disappearing. _We need to hear more!_

 _Zeren no!_ Zhengting ordered _. You’re invisible, not unhearable or untouchable. You’ll get us caught!_

_But ge, they’re speaking Avian! We’ve to know who they really are. Wenjun ge can use his glitch if something goes wrong._

_Zeren! No._ Zhengting said closing the topic even before the stench and color of Wenjun’s anxiety just by the thought of using his glitch hit him. He knew how much the taller boy hated using his ability, but he also knew that Zeren, who used his glitch as freely as he wanted, just lacked the empathy to understand. Which is an unfair thing to say for Zhengting, but he didn’t care: Xinchun never went around causing distress to Wenjun because of his ability and he was not a legit empath. Just a responsible little brother.

So, of course Zeren had not listened to Zhengting and the door swooshed open and close as he left in complete silence. Zhengting had followed him through by tuning in to his senses, almost completely turning off his own. This way they could see, hear, touch and smell everything as Zeren did. This was always an unusual experience to Zhengting, who was accustomed to his own perceptions picking up the nuances and endless flow of human emotions around him. The others hated it when they had to borrow the eldest’s senses: they could not process the information flooding them the way Zhengting did through his glitch: for them the endless colors and the smells had been just a distraction. Needless to say, the past week had been pretty rough on the three stuck in the pods only relying on Zhengting’s interference with information. Their complaints just annoyed the empath even more and sometimes he would just turn them off, which was a new skill he realized he had a few days ago.

His superhuman abilities had been developing in an alarmingly rapid rate and he was absolutely terrified. As if he was fighting his own body: now, he started to understand why Yixing never let them out of their training rooms. A “controlled environment”, he called it. “It is meant to protect you from yourself as much as it is to protect the people who don’t know what you are from doing something stupid and try to hurt you” he used to say, his mellow yellow colored worry mixing with deep purple of care and an interesting shade of red he couldn’t decode dimmed by a little sadness making Zhengting stop his assault every time he tried to bargain a trip for himself and his brothers. He only stopped because he did not want to cause distress to the doctor, not really understanding why this conversation would invoke such an interesting combination of emotions in the first place. He realized the truth now, when he was at the Tree for Three overhearing Oyang Jin talking to Ziyi and Xukun: it was the same color palette just in a different base.

Zhengting now had a glimpse of understanding what fatherhood meant.

Especially after he realized what Yixing meant under “controlled environment”. He thought their training room had all the outside stimuli that is possible in the universe when he compared it to the lounge rooms they had, but he couldn’t have been more far off. The moment his pod had opened up and he woke up all alone in an unknown and uninhabited place all his senses screaming at him to just end it, because they can’t bear this much information flooding them. It was a long process for him: he had to train himself to adjust to the uncontrolled natural life around him before he could even think about approaching any human settlement and the work was far from done even then. Learning the language, trying to tune out what is an emotion smell and what is an actual smell, the same with colors: it almost took him a week to take the control back. And then, the changes came: he became quicker, his sense range expanded, and he felt as if his mind was more disciplined. Not to mention his glitch was like as it had just waited for a bigger challenge to prove its worth, Zhengting losing control over it so many times that he tried to stay away from people as much as he could, afraid of accidentally hurting them or manipulating them into something horrible.

It was easier when he found Wenjun’s, Xinchun’s and Zeren’s pods at the inn. His brothers’ presence, their minds had helped Zhengting get control back over his own and gave him a sense of purpose with preparing them for the adjustment once they would be out of the crates. Of course, he still lost control sometimes. Like with poor Yanchen yesterday. He needed to find Quanzhe, Chengcheng and Justin, he knew that they need to be together. He knew everything would be easier then. They needed to stick together, he said for himself over and over again like a mantra, annoying the hell out Xinchun especially, who was listening in to his thoughts while he was bored out of his mind just lying in the pod.

“Let’s face it, we would both probably considered pretty useless in his eyes. It’s a mere coincidence that we got involved with this again.” The captain’s voice hit Zeren’s ear speaking in Avian as he approached the pair. Zhengting wanted to curse him just for walking straight up to them, but he didn’t mind the visual aide just to see Zhangjing’s concerned look on his face.

“You know, that’s not true. You know what he entrusted us with.” Who entrusted them?

“And what a great job we did there!” Xukun snapped at the quartermaster surprising the four brothers with his hurt tone. Zhengting wished he could see the captain’s colors right at his moment: his face did not give him enough tells to decode his emotions.

 “Maybe you’re right” Zhangjing answered the captain. “But we can’t just walk away acting ignorant. You had seen the serial numbers on those pods. Seven years ago, it was the NXT1299 and now one of those is NXT1999! Who knows where they let the research advance…” Zhangjing’s voice had trailed off. “We can’t let the Nexum Prime have it, it would be a catastrophe.”

Getting back from their Zeren-trance for a moment, Zhengting had seen Wenjun looking back at him frightened, instinctively grabbing his own right forearm where underneath his hoodie, his own serial number was printed onto his skin. It was a good choice to not let them get a glimpse of it before, Zhengting thought. Xinchun started pacing the room anxiously. Zhengting looked at him worryingly, wanting to stop him and calm him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it in the end.

Especially after hearing the next part of the conversation.

“I’m afraid they already do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Eidara. And Juliet, the cat with the organic cellular disintegration glitch.”

 _Justin._ This was the only thought in Zhengting’s head. Xinchun walked over to him and grabbed his hand to ground him before he went down on a panicked spiral again.

_We’ll get him back. We won’t let anyone hurt him any longer._

_Any longer..._ Zhengting echoed mortified but he knew what Xinchun was talking about. He still remembered when he heard his youngest brother cry out his name in clear distress before losing connection again. For a moment he felt overjoyed: Justin was close, he was with them. And then he realized that his brother had been hurt very badly and he still didn’t know how to get him back. Now, he knew Justin had been far-far away from them. Just how much pain he had to be in if he could call out for them from the other end of this strange galaxy?

“They wouldn’t use that in the NXT series, don’t they?” Zeren heard Zhangjing say. “That’s incredibly dangerous! For both the clone and their environment! I thought he would stay behind to take the glitches away, not develop them. It was all supposed to be for the advancement of the people in the galaxy, not for weapons! He wouldn’t let this happen!”

“We both know he didn’t have much opportunity to control what the NXT Production does. I’m pretty sure he tried his best. Maybe that’s why the pods are here instead of at Avion” Xukun let out an exhale and asking no one in particular. “Yixing, what have you done?”

BANG!

Zeren stumbled over his own legs, flailing to catch himself probably from the shock they all felt when hearing the familiar name.

Xinchun cursed out colorfully. He was pretty good with curse words that he learned from Zhengting’s memories about his explorations at the Setada and was quite fond of them. Zhengting wanted to scold him like a reflex reaction but his own annoyance over Zeren had won.

 _I told you not to go!_ He yelled at his clumsy little brother. _Now get back here right now!_

Zeren didn’t need to be told twice he quickly slipped away, while the captain and quartermaster checked the corridors around them, his bare feet not making any sounds for the pair’s inferior hearing to pick up.

 _He is coming to check on you_ Zeren quickly warned him as he slipped into Zhengting’s cabin, grabbing Wenjun’s hand, who grabbed onto Xinchun, all three of them turning invisible on the spot. Zhengting heard them shuffling to the far corner of the room while he lied down to his bedspread to feign sleep.

 _Don’t think I am done with you, Zeren!_ he sent a deadly look to the general direction of the boys, while he heard the captain knocking on his door.

 _Hey!_ He greeted the captain with forcing a smile on his face.

_Zhengting ge, you’re not speaking out loud._

_Oh…_ Well, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened to Zhengting, to his brothers’ great amusement. Especially Chengcheng liked to make fun of him because of it.

“Hey!” he repeated himself using his vocal chords this time, still struggling to keep the smile on his face.

“Hey, Zhengting!” Xukun smiled back at him sincerely. Sincerely… he thought he was but who knew? Zhengting felt betrayed by the captain if he was completely honest. Just how much he knew and why didn’t he say anything? Who else knew about them?

Did Yanjun knew about them as well? He couldn’t help but think.

 _Well, to be completely fair, you didn’t tell them anything either._ Wenjun said to him. _And no, I don’t think your boyfriend knew anything._

Zhengting resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew this would happen, but Xinchun was right yesterday when he told him that he needed to stop blocking them out from his mind or they would fail their mission miserably. So, his only option was to try and forcibly remove his memories about his sweet and very much private - yes, Zeren that word SHOULD be in our vocabulary! - afternoon and sync his mind back with his brothers’, but he just couldn’t bring himself to forget what happened, the way he felt when Yanjun said he would help him find his little brothers. For a moment he felt he could trust him and that the older man had trusted him too. It didn’t last long, the reality of his situation crashing on Zhengting almost right after but for a moment he felt his heart explode.

But since he decided to keep his memories about his first kiss ever and everything before that the constant teasing started.

But right now, it was time to focus on the captain who seemed to be a little bit down, his usual easygoing, yet charismatic and caring aura slightly off-colored, dimmed. He knew what this meant.

“Xukun?” Zhengting asked. “Is everything alright?”

“What?” Xukun said a little dazed. “Yes, sorry. I just got distracted by my own thoughts.”

“Oh…” Zhengting said. He should be more careful. “Then you should be careful not to walk around while so preoccupied. Especially if it makes you depressed.”

 _Zhengting, he’s not your pet_ Xinchun warned him. Zhengting shushed him, annoyed.

“It’s not exactly depressing… it was just a long time ago. Practically in a different life.” Xukun said clearly lost in memory lane. It was really a sad experience for Zhengting to realize that how the first universal pattern he discovered by observing people’s emotions was depression. He was shocked how many people felt so hopeless they would throw their aura to the brink of disappearance. Anything was better to see on a person than sadness, even anger.

 _Zhengting, I can’t believe you, stop!_ Xinchun snapped at him.

 _I worry about him. He obviously has something that weighs him down this much_ Zhengting said. _I don’t think he would try to manipulate us._

 _Or he wants you to think that, and he knew what you’re the moment you stepped on the ship and this is just a huge trap for you to walk right in._ Xinchun’s argument came immediately.

 _I think Zhengting is right. And his empathy would have told him if something is off with the captain’s emotions_ Wenjun said.

 _I agree if anyone’s interested_ Zeren nodded _. Which means he actually knows Xing ge and could might as well help us._

 _That’s it, I give up!_ Xinchun groaned. _I can’t believe you all are planning to trust this guy who wouldn’t even originally let Zheng ge stay on the ship at the first place._

Zhengting didn’t see what the three invisible boys were doing but the next thing he heard was a bang.

“Ah, again…” Xukun sighed. “I swear, if this ship falls apart, I’ll skin Yanchen, he is supposed to take care of her, and yet this strange banging keeps happening today around me.”

“Who knows, maybe you just have a ghost” Zhengting sighed tiredly. “A clumsy, idiotic ghost that should know better than to follow the captain of the ship around!” he said, his eyes flashing at his brothers dangerously.

 _Sorry, sorry! It was me this time_ Wenjun said. _Zeren, I am never making fun of you again for being careless about this. Being invisible is hard._

 “Right…” Xukun said, his confusion clear on his face and on his aura as well. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, that we will deliver our package now and after that we can head to the Blue Moon. You can be with your brothers again by this evening.”

Right. The Blue Moon. Zhengting’s supposed destination. To tell the truth he just deciphered the coordinates from the message Oyang Jin had got from his buyer and made a quick search of the area around it, trying to find another planet nearby he could use as a supposed destination.

“That’s wonderful. I can’t thank you enough for everything you and your crew had done for me” he said, forcing himself to smile at the captain again. At least, his words were sincere. “I know you didn’t want me onboard and I’m sorry to force you on that.”

And that was definitely sincere. Zhengting never hated anything more than using his glitch that way. Telling what someone feels is one thing but actually changing them? It was hard and made Zhengting’s skin crawl with discomfort whenever he had to do it.

“Nonsense. I agreed in the end, didn’t I? I guess I took pity on you.”

“Yes, you guess” Zhengting agreed with him.

_Of course, you would. You clearly have no idea that I’m a monster._

_Xinchun is right though._ Zhengting said once the captain left his cabin and Zeren turned his glitch off. Wenjun was still rubbing the back of his head, grimacing _. We cannot tell Xukun about us, we should stick to Xing ge's orders. But this still changes our plan though._

 _Why?_ Zeren asked _. You still don’t think I can do it, don’t you? That I can hide all of us long enough to find shelter on the other ship?_

 _No, you know that’s not it, baby. It’s just that it’s too risky, we will get caught even if we are invisible!_ Zhengting tried to calm him. _No, I was thinking that if Xukun and Zhangjing is from Yuehua then…_

 _They might have a working control panel_ Xinchun finished his thoughts.

 _We can use the comm link in it to contact Chaoze ge_ Zeren seemed to tune in with train of thoughts. _We have to at least find out what happened to him._

 _Or Xing ge himself_ Zhengting added.

 _And maybe we might also be able to hack into the other pods as well_ Zeren said. _We still don’t know where to go. We know Justin was at this Eidara place, but nothing can guarantee he is still there._

 _We stay on the Papillon until they are supposed to drop Zhengting off and until then we’ll have time to search their rooms and take it._ Xinchun said _. We can even organize a big family reunion scene to lull their suspicions._

 _It might won’t work on Zhengzheng’s boyfriend._ Zeren said _. He seemed really keen in his memories to help our big brother out._

 _We’ll be gone by the time Xukun dismisses his crew after landing._ Zhengting said trying to steady his emotions. _He won’t be able to follow after that._

Yanjun skipped breakfast so Zhengting haven’t seen him since last night. He was probably still sleeping, courtesy of Wenjun’s glitch. A sensation was eating him away just thinking about Yanjun, his precious smile, his dimples, his thick eyebrows, always furrowed more like a habit than actual upset, his captivating eyes… Zhengting, who was surrounded with his incredibly perfect brothers for most part of his life had thought he had never seen anything more beautiful than Yanjun when the two of them had been at the waterfall. Of course, the fact that the gunman said exactly what he was hoping to hear ever since he let himself became close with the crew of Papillon. That Yanjun was trusting him, that he wanted to help him. He tried not to think much about the kiss, he knew his brothers have been teasing him with it since the moment he built up his courage enough to share his memories with them. That Yanjun is his boyfriend. But Zhengting, chest feeling heavy, breathing coming hard for him, bile coming up in his throat, his heart burning, just kept staring at the mirror last night while the others shared his bed sleeping and found himself wishing yet again that he could sense his own feelings the same as he can with others.

 _I think the Captain just left the ship_ Xinchun said. _And he is taking Zhangjing with him._

 _Perfect_ Zhengting nodded _. Let’s go then._

Zeren grabbed onto Xinchun and Wenjun’s hand and Zhengting grabbed onto Wenjun’s. Walking around like this was pretty uncomfortable and it make them clumsy, but this was their best option right now: they needed to get to the crew’s quarters quickly and unseen.

Just as Zhengting was about to open the door, he heard a knock yet again. He instinctively let go of Wenjun’s hand and took a step back from the door as it opened.

Of course, it would be Yanjun to sneak up on them. The gunman looked at the younger for a long moment a smile spreading on his lips, his dimples showing.

“Hey” he said and continued to stare at Zhengting. The frozen boy had to quickly asses just how much Yanjun would remember from yesterday.

 _Your boyfriend doesn’t remember he kissed you and that you betrayed him_ Wenjun reminded him helpfully, his words stinging his older brother’s heart.

 _But your date still happened, so he’ll probably would want to kiss you for the first time again, if he gets the opportunity_ Xinchun quipped in. Zhengting could smell his brother’s amusement over the predicament. So much about his empathy…

 _It wasn’t a date!_ Zhengting protested trying hard not to think how his first reaction which would have been _Soon he wouldn’t want to._

“Oh… well I was hoping it was.” Yanjun said, his smile falling, his eyebrows furrowed.

 _Oh, now you are talking out loud accidentally_ Zhengting could literally see Wenjun’s eyeroll while he heard him saying that.

“No, sorry! I wasn’t talking to you, it was just something I read! My mind was just somewhere else, sorry!” Zhengting rambled out quickly. Trying to ignore his heart thumping away at his chest at the fact, that Yanjun considered their little excursion yesterday a date. “Hey to you too! You slept long, is everything alright?”

“I know, right? I must have been super exhausted after yesterday” Yanjun rolled his shoulders comfortably, pensive look on his face. “I actually haven’t slept this long for years.”

“It was an eventful day, you’re right.”

“Hmm… I’ve had worse, it wasn’t that long actually” Yanjun said while a smirk reappeared on his face, his aura radiating playfulness, which was a good color on him in Zhengting’s opinion. “Maybe it was the company”

 _I am getting nauseous from this much saccharine_ Zeren said giving out a disgusted sound. But Zhengting just smiled at the older.

“Yes, it must have been great to see Dinghao again” he said, remembering Yanjun’s lovely old friend. “Your friendship seemed so special.”

 _Ah, gege that was not what he was talking about_ Xinchun sighed.

 _No?_ Wenjun echoed Zhengting’s confusion. The oldest was glad he wasn’t the only disagreeing with Xinchun.

Yanjun’s smile seemed to be frozen on his face for a moment.

“That’s not… whatever” He shook his head. “Yes, it was also good to see Dinghao. But I’m actually here for a reason. Did you see Zhenghao?”

“Zhenghao? No, I haven’t. Why? You lost him?”

“Agh, yes. I think we did” Yanjun sighed. “Come on, let’s go to the mess hall and tell the others.”

 _This is not good._ Zeren said.

 _Stick to the plan._ Zhengting ordered. _The whole crew will be in the mess hall, you’ll have time to search the rooms._

 

Ziyi was not happy.

“Xukun specifically told us to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice” he said when everyone was gathered at the mess hall. “Who had seen Zhenghao the last?”

“He was with me when we exited hyperspace” Yanchen said. “But after that I don’t know where he went.

“I think he might have wandered off at the station” Linong admitted. “He was saying something about that he might have heard someone speaking in a Sironian dialect. Maybe he went to investigate.”

Ziyi pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration and worry flowing around him intensely.

“We need to get him back. Quickly.”

“I will go right now” Yanjun patted the first mate’s shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll get him back here as soon as I can.”

 _Wenjun and I are in the captain’s room_ Xinchun told Zhengting. _I disabled the security footage and the sensors, so we will be fine._

 _That’s great, Xinchun_ Zhengting said proudly. _I think we’re wrapping up here. Don’t let anyone see you. Zeren is at Zhangjing’s room then?_

 _I am in already_ Zeren reported _. It wasn’t locked actually. This guy really trusts the crew, huh?_

 _Well, he didn’t tell them that he is from another galaxy_ Xinchun pointed it out _. How much trust there could really be between them?_

Zhengting’s gaze landed on Ziyi. According to what Yanjun said to him, the two of them knew the captain and the quartermaster for the longest time. In fact, Zhengting was really overwhelmed at first how deep the bond between Ziyi and Zhangjing actually was, even though never acted on as he further observed. How could the first mate trust his love so much if he didn’t even know this huge thing about him? Or do they actually know the truth just they are keeping it a secret from everyone else? What could’ve possibly happened at that prison planet that made the four of them such a tight-knit unit?

Now that Zhengting thought about it: what was Yanjun doing in a prison anyway? He knew Ziyi’s sad story and could take a wild guess that Xukun and Zhangjing probably has gotten themselves into trouble while trying to hide the fact that they were Avian. But he didn’t know anything about Yanjun’s story.

Zhengting watched as the older had come back from his quarters, holstering his gun on his utility belt. Zhengting hadn’t seen the gunman in action before, but he clearly has practice with it.  Just how exactly did he use this skill of his that landed him in – according to Zhengting’s thorough research on Zhangjing’s borrowed tablet with a very useful database – what is considered the most high-security prison settlement in this galaxy? It was hard to think of the sweet and caring Yanjun Zhengting got to know in the past few days as a heartless criminal.

Maybe it was like as it was with Ziyi. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding or something noble, like fighting against their oppressive government. At least that was what Zhengting wanted to be the truth.

“…Ting?”

Yanchen’s voice startled Zhengting. As he met the technician’s concerned gaze with a smile he tried to focus on several things at once: listening in on his brothers’ progress in their search and on what Yanchen was saying to him as well.

“Can you help me out in the engine room while Zhenghao is away? I want to be prepared if we have to get away fast, but I need help.”

“I don’t know much about the ship” Zhengting protested surprised. As much he liked Yanchen’s company and it was true vice versa, he wasn’t exactly allowed in the engine room or the ship’s bridge before.

“Well, you’re a really quick learner as I had realized and Nongnong said so too, when you helped him out in his research project” Yanchen shrugged. Yes, Zhengting remembered that fun afternoon with the ship’s medic: it was fascinating to see how different medicine had developed in this galaxy compared to what he observed from Yixing back at the center. Even though he didn’t have many opportunities to evolve in this particular interest of his since Quanzhe’s glitch had matured to be of use, but he still was really interested in the topic of medicine and chemistry. The same wasn’t exactly true about quantum engine mechanics but he would probably not have problem handling anything Yanchen makes him do and Zeren will appreciate the new things they can learn like this.

It was harder to concentrate on what Yanchen was telling him when he could only hear his brothers’ frustrations about the unsuccessful search.

 _This guy sure loves food…_ Zeren wondered out. _Why does he need so many recipe books when he already has a huge collection of them on his tablet?_

 _How many drawers full of different herbal and vitamin pills is too many do you think?_ Wenjun cried out in frustration when he yet again managed to finally open a cabinet just to find it full of plastic bottles with pills in different size and color.

“And then you switch on this carburetor and open the engine tank when I say so, okay?” Yanchen asked making Zhengting forget about the search and nod to the mechanic.

And then it didn’t matter anymore.

Because he heard it. A voice he was so afraid he would not hear again anymore.

 _Oh, wow. I see you all have been really busy while I was away,_ he said. _Are we speaking their language now then between us too? Makes sense, easier to switch, but the vocabulary you gathered is much less boring than mine…_

 _QUANZHE!_ The four other boys had cried out at the same time. Zhengting felt tears gathering his eyes too overwhelmed with his own joy and relief on hearing his little brother’s voice as he was flooded with two weeks of memories that the younger had spent away from his brothers.

 _Zhengting ge you kissed a boy?!_ Quanzhe’s voice rang in his head, in full disbelief. Zhengting could hear his brothers laughing out loud and he didn’t even try to scold them for teasing him, since of course this would be Quanzhe’s first question to them. In fact, he was pretty sure, that he couldn’t fully control his own joy and if Yanchen would have been looking at him at this moment he would had a hard time explaining why he is grinning so widely.

Quanzhe is fine. Quanzhe is safe. Quanzhe…

Quanzhe is on a Nexum battleship that just arrived. He tried to sort through all of his little brother’s memories to find the answer he needs but he had to concentrate on everything else happening around them, so he decided to ask instead.

 _Quanzhe, baby what is happening over there?_ Zhengting asked. _This tracker of theirs… have you seen it? Is it a Yuehua comm device? Can we really use it?_

 _It might be. I had only seen a small black box_ Quanzhe explained. _The cute scientist boy had said something about it to the commander lady, but they are using sign language and I couldn’t see it from my hiding place._

 _This woman is smart, making them all not to speak out loud_ Xinchun said surprised. _But apparently not smart enough if she didn’t think you could learn the sign language as well._

 _It’s a little different from what we use at home, but we can adjust to it easily_ Wenjun said, clearly already reviewing Quanzhe’s sign language related memories. Zhengting wasn’t surprised at this, after all Wenjun’s only way of proper communication with people not sharing a subspace telepathic connection with him was through the sign language.

 _You have to get off that ship on the transport that is coming here_ Zhengting said. _With or without the tracker device, you cannot stay there any longer._

 _But I can’t leave Zuo Ye here!_ Quanzhe protested. _He is a prisoner because they think his dad is hiding you, ge! We got them in this mess, it’s not fair! And we would never find where Justin and Chengcheng is without the tracker!_

 _Wait a minute!_ Xinchun said silencing Quanzhe. _This Qin Fen… is he the one in the documents of the Papillon._

 _Yes,_ Quanzhe confirmed. _That’s why they won’t let them leave without searching the ship._

“Zhengting I told you to switch it on when I say so!” Yanchen yelled at Zhengting suddenly, bringing the empath back to his own physical presence and out of the subspace debate.

“What’s going on here?” Xingjie appeared surprise and frustration radiating from him, probably over Yanchen’s yell. But Zhengting couldn’t really care right now.

“We have to hide, now” He said suddenly, looking at Yanchen seriously. Yanchen’s anger evaporated from his face, giving space to confusion.

 _Too late. The soldiers are already heading our way at the station_ Zeren said.

“What are you talking about?” Xingjie asked looking at their passenger worried. “Zhengting, what’s wrong?”

“Yanchen, start the engine, now!” Ziyi’s voice echoed through the ship’s comm system. “A Nexum Battleship just appeared, and they are boarding the space station.”

Zhengting didn’t think just went to the comm panel and yelled into the microphone.

“No, we all have to leave the ship now! They will board it soon and they’ll take us all prisoners.”

“Zhengting, they can’t take us all without any reason” Xingjie said. “Don’t worry, they’ll just contact us, we’ll give them our fake ID codes and then they’ll leave, it happened before. Starting the engine is just a precaution.”

“No, they’re coming here already, they won’t let you leave without the stasis pods and the information they think you have.”

 _Maybe I should give myself up_ Zhengting told his brothers. _If they find me, they would leave the Papillon alone._

 _Absolutely no way_ Wenjun said firmly. _They definitely won’t make the same mistake they did with Quanzhe._

 _True_ Quanzhe agreed. _The squad team all has taser guns to use on you and sedate your glitch. It's not very efficient but you know what happens if the shock is big enough!_

 _I’m on my way to the engine room, ge_ Zeren said. _Xinchun, Wenjun you head that way too._

 _We’re stuck in here; the crew is in a little disarray after Zhengting yelled at the whole ship._ Xinchun said.

_I’m sorry._

_We’ll be fine_ Wenjun said. _I’ll make sure of it_.

_Wenjun…_

_Don’t start, ge. We knew it would be impossible to do this mission without me using my glitch._

Zhengting swallowed his guilt and focused his attention back to the footsteps banging down the corridor hurriedly and Ziyi appearing in the engine room door.

“Zhengting, what do you know? You have to tell us now! What’s going on?” he asked, his back straitening, his battle reflexes visibly turning online, Zhengting recognized that look.

“I have no time to explain” He said, pleadingly walking over to the first mate, grabbing onto his hand. Should he use his glitch? Maybe not yet. “Please, just trust me, they’re going to board. We have to hide somehow”

Ziyi’s comm unit beeped, the man had quickly answered without even looking at the caller ID.

“Shit Ziyi, why is a Nexum squad team boarding our cargo bay right now?” Yanjun’s voice rang through the tiny speaker, making Ziyi’s eyes wide.

“Yanjun, you and Zhenghao hide and don’t come back to ship until the soldiers left, that’s an order. Try to find Xukun and Zhangjing” he said quickly, shutting down Yanjun’s protest with disconnecting the call.

“To all crew and passengers of this ship” an unfamiliar tinny voice rang though. “In the name of the Nexum Prime you are all arrested. Please, discard any object that can be considered as weaponry and surrender yourself to our officials arriving to your location immediately. I am obligated to warn you that at the show of any sign of resistance, our officials are allowed to use force against you. We kindly expect your cooperation.”

Zhengting could already hear the steps approaching them and if he focused on Zeren’s vision, he could already see the troops heading towards the engine room from the opposite direction as his invisible little brother slipping right in a second before the troops arrived accidentally bumping into Ziyi throwing the first mate of his balance. Zeren didn’t care: he thumped over to Zhengting and grabbed his arm tightly at the same moment Zhengting saw the troops enter, their guns raised at Ziyi and Xingjie threatingly. Xingjie’s face had suddenly turned frighteningly pale as he looked towards where Zhengting was standing.

“Yanchen!” he yelled out in a tone of sheer panic, his fright hitting Zhengting’s senses louder and more alarming than the engine behind him. That’s when he realized: Yanchen was supposed to be standing beside him but as he turned that way, he couldn’t see him anymore.

 _Zeren, what the hell are you doing?_ Zhengting asked angrily from his invisible brother still holding onto his arm tightly.

 _Shut up, ge. They can’t take everyone on this ship hostage._ He said courtly. Zhengting could hear a well muffled sound from the direction he suspected Yanchen was standing invisible and clearly forcefully gagged by Zeren, but he was pretty sure that no one else had heard it over Xingjie’s panicked calls for Yanchen. _Calm him down, would you?_

Zeren was right, so Zhengting turned his glitch on, focusing on Xingjie who was about to charge the troops with accusations of disintegrating Yanchen just as they did with all those innocent people, trying to send him calming thoughts but he may have been too forceful, and the lack of body contact didn’t help his case either. The gunman had halted his advance, but his aura didn’t turn exactly calm. Zhengting just watched as his arms were seized and was dragged away together with Ziyi. The soldiers had stripped their forearms bare and checked it. They were looking for the ID number and they were clearly relieved to not find one. Some of the soldiers stayed behind rummaging through Yanchen’s stuff in the cabinets clearly looking for something.

 _They’re doing this on the whole ship_ Zeren told him. _They search through everything._

_What are they looking for?_

_Probably the same thing we do._ Xinchun said. _We cannot let them find it._

 _Well, it’s probably here, in the captain’s room somewhere_ Wenjun said. _We can protect this one._

“Freeze!”

Zhengting was focusing on his brothers so much that for a moment he thought it was him that was ordered but the soldiers in the engine room were occupied by wrapping up the search and leaving empty-handed.

“You two! This is supposed to be the captain’s room. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing” Zhengting heard Wenjun say. He didn’t need his empathy to tell his little brother’s discomfort, so he immediately started to send soothing thoughts towards the boy as he trembled out the next sentences. “Tell us what YOU are doing here.”

“Searching for the control device these guys probably have. For the freaks you know?”

 _I guess that is supposed to be us_ Quanzhe said. Zhengting was too busy to think about that while focusing on his mantra of _That’s okay, you are doing the right thing_ for Wenjun’s sake. The others are paying attention enough for him too.

“It’s not here, you should leave” Wenjun told the soldiers. “And you found this room empty.”

Zhengting could see the two men look at each other.

“It’s not here, we should leave” one of them echoed Wenjun’s words.

“And this room is empty” the other said, nodding. They both left the cabin unsearched. Wenjun had let out a shaky breath.

 _This was necessary, baby_ Zhengting told him. _You haven’t done anything wrong._

 _I know_ Wenjun told him weakly. _Making your boyfriend forget your kiss was much worse anyway._

 _I know, I’m sorry_ Zhengting said. _I wish I could promise you that you’ll never have to do this again._

 _It’s not your fault, ge. Don’t blame yourself_ Wenjun tried to reassure him. Zhengting let out an internal surprised sound at how the other was capable of telling how he felt at the moment. _I don’t have to be an empath to know you enough,ge_ he said, amusement clear in his voice.

 _I think they left the ship_ Zeren interrupted them.

 _Yep_ Xinchun confirmed. _They just tried to do a biometric sweep to make sure they left no one here. We’re clear._

Zhengting could feel Zeren’s relief flooding out around him, but still nervous while the three of them turned visible. The scene seemed more dramatic than Zhengting expected: Zeren was not simply holding onto Yanchen, but practically glued himself to the mechanic’s back, his barefoot legs wrapped around his torso, one arm around his neck, his sweater-clad forearm basically stuffed inside the elder’s mouth, while his other hand was still clamped over Zhengting’s hand. The empath slowly loosened the younger boy’s hold on him as he looked into Yanchen eyes, which were as wide as saucers.

“Zeren, let Yanchen go” Zhengting said it out loud, not to freak out the frightened man even more. “We’re safe now.”

Zeren slowly unwrapped himself from Yanchen, patting his shoulder reassuringly. The engineer, still frozen from shock just kept staring at Zeren and Zhengting silently, his jaw slacked. A bleep sounded from his belt, he reached for it without even registering what he was doing. He answered the incoming call.

“Yanchen” Yanjun’s voice was heard from the comm unit. “Are you still on the ship? Xukun and Zhangjing were also captured.”

Yanchen had blinked, clearly still not knowing how to answer.

“Yanchen!” Yanjun repeated forcefully. “Are you on the ship? Is Zhengting with you? I have seen the others getting dragged away but not you two.”

“Yes” Yanchen finally said.

“Good. How did you managed to hide?”

Footsteps were heard once again, probably only detectable by Zhengting’s sensitive hearing and soon Wenjun and Xinchun arrived at the doorway as well, startling Yanchen even more.

“I… don’t know” he stammered out an answer into his comm.

“Yanchen… are you okay?”

“I… think so?”

“Yes, you are!” Zeren said sighing out loud. “Geez, I just turned you invisible a little, what’s the big deal?”

“Invi… what? And who the hell said that?” Yanjun asked. Zhengting groaned out loud, walking toward Yanchen taking the comm out of his head.

“Yanjun ge, come back to the ship” Zhengting said. “We’ll explain everything.”

 _And what the hell we’ll do now?_ Quanzhe asked in small voice. _I don’t want to lose the connection again, gege. It’s scary to be alone._

 _Quanzhe, you won’t be alone, you never were!_ Zhengting said. _Did you doubt that we would come for you?_

Quanzhe kept silent.

_Ai, Quanzhe! Have you doubted your geges?_

_A little. It was really scary when I lost Chengcheng and Justin I thought you guys left me…_

Zhengting’s heart squeezed at the sad admission. His eyes met Xinchun’s and he didn’t even need to read his emotions to tell that he was feeling the same. They had all been wishing that Quanzhe would be there with them, so they could comfort him, they could hug him, making him feel all the love they could possibly give, but they can’t panic, they have to be strong. Zhengting had a little brother to calm down.

_Ya, Quanzhe! Who do you think you are? How could you doubt that we would come for you? You should never doubt that, understood?_

_I… okay, I understand._

_You did amazing, you hear me? You just have to hold out a little more. You can do it, you are our little hamster, our baby healer, Quanzhe!_

_Who else can do it, if not you?_ Xinchun added, his tone encouraging, a small smile appearing at his face. Zhengting saw Zeren nodding along smiling.

 _Our Quanzhe is the best!_ he said.

They might have been a bizarre site to Yanchen, all of them just staring off to space, not saying a single word out loud, but Zhengting would worry about that later.

 _Now, you have to focus!_ Zhengting said. They were running out of time and they still had things to discuss. _Can you tell where they are planning to go? Have you heard anything?_

After some time Quanzhe said: _Yes. To the Haradria. They want to interrogate Qin Fen about you, ge._

 _Then be prepared._ Zhengting nodded. _Try to find the tracker but don’t get caught! You staying free is more important, we’ll find another way to find Justin and Chengcheng, all right?_

_Okay, ge._

_Quanzhe, see you at the Haradria, baby._ He said as he could already feel their connection weakening, the battleship probably on the verge of entering hyperspace again. _We will save you, don’t forget!_

Quanzhe didn’t have the chance to answer, their connection lost again but Zhengting could tell that he heard him.

 _Zhengting…_ Xinchun said slightly nudging him, bringing him back to the present. _Your boyfriend is here._

And there he was. Yanjun stood at the engine room, now pretty cramped with so many people standing in there, his gun drawn and pointed at the faces he couldn’t possibly place but seemed hauntingly familiar, Zhenghao standing behind his back, his young face looking utterly confused.

“Who the hell are you?” the gunman demanded angrily, startling everyone in the room, making the brothers look at each other puzzled at what to say.

“Well, gentlemen.” Zhengting started, his gaze nervously flicking between the three crewmen of the Papillon. “These are my brothers. Wenjun, Xinchun and Zeren.”

“I have a better question” Yanchen seemed to find his voice. “What the hell are you?”

 _Well…_ Zhengting thought. _That will need a longer time to explain._

And time was something they didn’t really have right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, boy. I actually love this chapter. I literally died twice while writing it and rewriting it, it took me months to actually finalize it, but I have to admit I'm quite satisfied how it turned out in the end.  
> Sooo, finally some real Zhengting and NEX7 moments. I hope it won't disappoint you much.  
> Now, I'm probably going to rest a little, won't expect that this will be the new updating standard, I don't have THAT much time... :D


	10. Chapter 7: Ziyi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maker of Miracles?” Zhangjing echoed barely audibly as he sat down next to Ziyi. “I haven’t heard that one before. What miracles did you do, General Wang?”  
> Ziyi was silent for a moment, before slowly answering.  
> “Let’s just say, those so-called “miracles” definitely did not feel like miracles when I did them, and I wish people would just forget about it.”  
> “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you” Zhangjing’s gentle voice whispered into Ziyi’s ear. “I understand memories that you wish you could just forget.”
> 
> While the crew of the Papillon is going through an elaborate escape plan, Ziyi has to face a few challenges on his own as well.

“Is it really him?” he heard them whispering to each other not really subtly. “The one with the uppercut?”

Ziyi resisted the urge to roll his eyes so he closed them instead to at least pretend to sleep.

He didn’t know how long they have been there: it seemed like days but in reality, it only could have been a few hours: the Haradria is only half a day’s ride in hyperspace from Ronghao’s space station.

“Yes, he is!”

“No way! That is the “legendary” General Wang? The “Maker of Miracles”?” The additional guards had arrived at their cell not much after they took Xukun for interrogation and they were chatting not-so-secretly ever since then. Ziyi had long since learned to ignore these types of comments, but he couldn’t help but snort at that: he didn’t hear that one for quite a long time now. He didn’t expect that he was still known like this around the core planets, considering it should be a sore spot for the almighty Nexum War Fleet.

He couldn't even guess what will happen to him once Commander Lin passed him on to Jackson. Would his former friend just kill him on the spot? It would save him from a lot of trouble. They may have been each other's closest confidants and best friends, they might have been like brothers once, but all that was in the past and just the thought of him could make Ziyi want to smash through concrete walls or trash the closest furniture. Ziyi deliberately shook away the negative thoutghts: he just have to trust Yanjun and Yanchen. They're going to escape.

He slowly opened his eyes to assess his crewmembers but what he didn’t expect is to look directly into You Zhangjing’s chocolate eyes. The other man was sitting across the cell, near the back, by the sleeping Linong’s feet, next to the bars separating them from Zuo Ye. But Zhangjing’s eyes were fixated on Ziyi himself, searching his face for any indication of emotions. He was secretly hoping that the quartermaster would find something because then he could share his observations with Ziyi: because he sure as hell didn’t know what to feel about the whole revelation. Zhangjing, registering that Ziyi stopped pretending to be asleep, slowly got up, depositing Xikan’s wringing hands from his lap, fully well knowing that they would soon find their way back to their owner’s mouth to chew on his nails in his unhealthy nervous habit. Ziyi was surprised: normally, Zhangjing wouldn’t let the navigator do that to himself, but everybody was a little bit odd right now, no one blamed them.

“Maker of Miracles?” Zhangjing echoed barely audibly as he sat down next to Ziyi. “I haven’t heard that one before. What miracles did you do, General Wang?”

Ziyi was silent for a moment, before slowly answering.

“Let’s just say, those so-called “miracles” definitely did not feel like miracles when I did them, and I wish people would just forget about it.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you” Zhangjing’s gentle voice whispered into Ziyi’s ear. “I understand memories that you wish you could just forget.”

Ziyi let out a long puff of air after hearing this. He often heard Zhangjing say things like these, but he guessed he finally could see the personal experience behind those words of wisdom.

“So, tell me. If you were this hotshot engineer guy how come you are a cook now?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from his memories of Jackson Wang. “And take orders from Xukun, not to mention.”

Zhangjing raised his eyebrows.

“So, I am just a cook now, am I? Last time I checked, my job was to keep you alive when we’re up in hyperspace for weeks.”

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Ziyi backed away quickly. “I just meant that being a quartermaster is not exactly the most… challenging if someone is used to coding and stuff.”

Zhangjing’s eyebrows lifted even higher, Ziyi stumbled over his words slightly panicking.

“I don’t think your job is not challenging now! I truly respect what you do. You always think a few steps ahead of everyone, you always remember to stock for every unexpected situation, you portion everything, so we would never go hungry, or cold or unprotected. You’re amazing. You know what? Forget what I just asked, it’s not even…” A hand squeezed Ziyi’s upper arm, making him stop his rambling.

“I know what you meant I am just messing with you” Zhangjing told him, barely containing his laughter.

Ziyi was shocked at first and then let out a sigh of relief. He chuckled in disbelief.

“You are going to be the death of me, You Zhangjing.” Ziyi scolded but nonetheless patted the Avian man’s hand on his arm affectionately.

“Yes, I was a programmer, but not that hotshot as you think.” Zhangjing explained. “Basically, my job was to document Dr Zhang’s work, so I spent a lot of time with him, and later with Bangbang, that’s why I know this much. Xukun is more of an expert on the subject of the NXT series, unfortunately for him. It wasn’t an easy job, the one he had.”

Ziyi nodded empathically. He could understand why Xukun was rather keen on leaving the whole galaxy behind after the horrors he must have been forced to do.

“Yours couldn’t have been easy either” The first mate pointed out.

Zhangjing shrugged.

“No, it wasn’t” he said with a sad undertone. “Maybe that’s why I don’t code anymore. This… being a quartermaster is a different challenge for me, not necessarily easier. That was what I needed after all we have been through.”

Eerie silence fell between the two of them, they both getting lost in their own thoughts while simply gaining energy and support just from the proximity of the other. This was not unusual for the two of them, this was something they regularly did. It had come to point where Ziyi couldn’t imagine his life without this routine.

“Do you hate me?” Zhangjing asked suddenly.

Ziyi finally looked at the shorter man sitting by his side closely, way too close for Ziyi’s sanity to stay in intact.

“How could I hate you?” was the only thing that he managed to say.

“I wasn’t exactly honest with you.”

“Zhangjing” Ziyi said, gathering his thoughts, shifting a little to apply a minuscule of space between himself and the quartermaster. He tried to make it unnoticeable: he didn’t want him to think that he did not want to be close to him anymore, it was rather the opposite in fact. But he had to say what was needed to be said, not doing something impulsive and stupid. “I am not going to say this didn’t upset me. But I’m more... sad rather than angry.”

“Sad?”

“Yes. Disappointed a little, I guess.”

“Because of who I was? Ziyi, I was disgusted by my job for the longest time, why do you think I am on the run from it? I couldn’t do that anymore…”

“I am not disappointed about that!” Ziyi cut him off more forcefully than he originally planned, gaining the attention of the guards for a moment, but they easily dismissed it. “I am disappointed because I was hoping…” his voice choked suddenly on the admission. “I thought that you trust me more than keeping this a secret from me.”

Zhangjing’s eyes were wide as saucers.

“I trust you, Ziyi. You know that. It’s just…” Zhangjing finally looked away seemingly at loss of words.

“Memories that you wish you would forget” Ziyi concluded. Zhangjing looked back at him surprised, then a little smile slowly spread over his lips.

“Yes” he nodded. “Not everything is bad, but yes, most if it is.”

Not much time later Xukun was thrown back into the cell. They all huddled closer to the far end of the cell, so they would talk with him without the guards hearing what they’re saying. They didn’t seem too bothered by this, which was very odd for Ziyi, but he decided that they just might be lucky for once.

 “Well… that was lovely” Xukun said, massaging the back of his neck tiredly.

“What did they want?” Xingjie asked.

“The same thing as before. The control unit we apparently must have. And well, information about Zhengting’s whereabouts.” the captain shrugged while casually dropping down beside Ziyi giving his first mate a concerned look. Xukun knew how the man behind all this had caused so much suffering for the former general and he was worried about him, it was clear to Ziyi. He tried to reassure his captain with a solemn nod: he can keep it together until this is over. He won’t snap before they are safe.

And one day, he will get his revenge on that traitor Jackson Wang.

As he thought about it, Ziyi was almost completely sure that Xukun did have a control unit, but he understood very well, why they shouldn’t give it to them. He didn’t see what these boys could actually do, but if the miracle Quanzhe just did is considered “useless” for the Nexum then they all very much have things to be afraid of.

Quanzhe didn’t had an opportunity to get his sleep, he had to disappear right after he healed Linong, not giving them an opportunity to ask more questions. He said he had to find this tracker device, if they want to rescue Justin and Chengcheng. Apparently, the two brothers unaccounted for was those two. Ziyi remembered things Zhengting mentioned about the two of them: if he remembered correctly, they were considered the pranksters among the brothers. He wondered how people with interconnected minds can prank each other, but he guessed it was possible somehow to switch the connection off.

“I am thinking what Zhengting’s glitch might be” he also wondered, but this time out loud.

“I think Zhengting’s power might be super cuteness” Linkai mentioned jokingly, making Xikan giggle.

“It might be” Xingjie also chuckled. “Let’s admit, he kinda made us do anything for him, isn’t he?” 

“I knew something is special about him” Nongnong nodded. “But I would have never expected this. He easily manipulated me out of examining him properly. But you know, for some reason I can’t be mad at him. After the time we spent together… I think he means well, and I always felt like… like he truly sees me, if you know what I mean.”

The others hummed in agreement. Ziyi had to admit, he himself felt something similar while spending time with the young man: he made the first mate feel comfortable around him, playing along when he was in a good mood, yet sensing perfectly when Ziyi was down: the only person who could do something similar with him so far was You Zhangjing.

“He was probably terrified what would happen if we know” Zhangjing said, before Ziyi’s thoughts could wander too far. “I am surprised he was coping this well. He lived his entire life in an isolated laboratory, only seeing the outside world on pictures. When we brought Bangbang out back then… it was awful for him. His senses were much more sensitive than we could possibly imagine. Just watching him suffer was torture enough.”

Zhangjing’s eyes grow distant for a minute, his face ashen.

“But he did adapt, eventually” Xukun pointed out, distracting the quartermaster out of his reverie. “They are very smart, they have been even back then. Now, with this subspace information sharing… I can’t even imagine what they’re capable of.”

 “The scientist in me really wants to test them, but I feel disgusted by the thought, is that normal?” Linong asked unsure. “I would be weirded out if someone would try to examine me like that.”

“Well… it’s not exactly the same with you” Xingjie shrugged. “I mean, this was basically their whole life, isn’t it?”

Zhangjing nodded in confirmation, grimacing bitterly.

“But that doesn’t make it all right” Xikan argued.

“No, it doesn’t” Xingjie agreed. “I think the best would be to help them find a safe place to settle, hide them from anyone who would look for them. That’s why you two were sent here with Zhibang in the first place, don’t you? Because there’s a chance for them to go unbothered around here, right?”

Xukun and Zhanjing shared an unreadable look.

They didn’t mention what happened to this Zhibang or Bangbang, as they called him, but Ziyi had an ever-growing feeling that the boy wasn’t living his life happily at a backwater planet at the edge of the galaxy. Xukun only said “that’s another long story for another day” when they asked about where is he now.

“Unfortunately, it’s not that easy” Xukun said.

“It might be…” Zhangjing interrupted.

“Yes, it might, but...” Xukun dismissed the older with a hand. “We need more information for that to know. We’ll see. And don’t worry!” He looked at the crew reassuringly. “We’ll tell you what we are talking about later, but right now it’s really not the time.”

Yes, it really wasn’t. As if on cue, Ziyi felt the ship shake, reminding all of them where they actually were.

“We probably dropped out of hyperspace” Linkai said.

“So we are home” Zuo Ye smiled hopefully.

The cell block had fallen silent. They had no idea what their fellow crewmembers were actually planning, and they didn’t have a clue about what’s happening either. They listened carefully, desperately hoping to hear something that could tell them what to expect.

But the only thing they heard were banging footsteps down metal corridors and then, after a few minutes, nothing. Time seemed to pass painfully slow for the prisoners. The guards at the cell block had looked on to their comm panels and stood up straight, looking confused.

“This makes no sense” One of them said confused to the other. “Aren’t we supposed to let them…”

“Shut up, you idiot!” The other whisper-yelled at the first one worriedly. Ziyi looked at Xukun at alert. What, the guards were supposed to let them do?

Their eyes widened almost simultaneously. This was a trap. A trap for Quanzhe.

“Bridge, this is cell block unit 1” The second one said into his communicator. “We request clarification on the new orders, we are unsure of how to proceed.”

The guards waited, sharing another look.

“Bridge, this is cell block unit 1. Do you copy?” The guard commed again. “They’re not answering. I think I better go there and check. You stay here!”

“But what…” The other protested, but he was shut down.

“I will hurry back, just hold on!” The former one said, and he was out on the door moments later leaving his nervous companion behind.

Thirty seconds later, the guard fell to the ground motionless and the crew heard the metal panel from the ceiling pushed away again and Quanzhe looked down at them with an exited look while all doors to the cells had opened at the same time.

“How did you do that?” Zuo Ye asked astonished.

“It was them, not me” Quanzhe said motioning toward the cell block’s computer panel, where out of nowhere there were two figures Ziyi had never seen before, but they were wearing clothes that suspiciously looked like Yanchen’s. One of the men - more like boys, if Ziyi could say so himself - had his hands on the computer panel, his eyes creepily lit up while the other one was clutching on a stun gun pointed at the unconscious guard, examining the body with very intent interest, chattering to seemingly himself in a language Ziyi didn’t understand, but he supposed it must be Avian.

“Wrong language, Zeren ge!” Quanzhe warned him out loud. Both boys’ attention snapped towards his voice, the former one’s eyes turning back to a regular brown before they both smiled at the boy practically flying into their arms wrapping them in a giant group hug.

“You must be our rescue team” Ziyi spoke up almost feeling bad for disturbing the reunion, but they had to hurry. If his instincts are correct, the Commander had a trap set up for them: they need to act fast, before the other guard gets back.

He had a bad feeling that the guards were specifically told to let them escape. Which means that the only advantage they had was that the Nexum thought they only have Zhengting to rely on. The trap might be possibly focused on the crates. Ziyi hoped it was like that.

The three brothers had turned towards them at the same time, letting go of each other.

The taller one of the two boys strode towards them singling out Xingjie for some reason and spoke.

“Yanchen said to tell you that the plan is the Devil’s roller coaster” he said. “And we brought you this.” The boy reached for his backpack and handed them all in-ear communicators. Ziyi happily accepted it and turned it on, just to be greeted with static.

“What is the Devil’s roller coaster?” Linong asked the boy confused. The boy shrugged.

“I don’t know who Devil is and I don’t know what a roller coaster is either” He said matter-of-factly. The other boy - was it Zeren? - nodded in agreement. “We guessed it must be something Devil is famous for having, because no one questioned him, when he said so.”

Ziyi would have laughed if they would have been in a different situation.

“Don’t worry, it’s a code” he told the boys reassuringly. “I’ll explain it to you later. My name is Ziyi. And you two are?”

“We know who you are” The taller one said.

“Obviously” the other added.

“We know everything Zhengting ge knows” Quanzhe explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We remember what he remembers,”

“Oh, I see… But we still don’t know who your two friends are” Zhangjing told them. “Yixing ge didn’t teach you manners?”

“I am Xinchun, this is Zeren” the first boy said avoiding eye-contact with the quartermaster embarrassed. They looked so young at this moment: come to think of it, they were even younger than that. Zhangjing said the children in the facility are given extra genes that accelerates their aging process till their abilities start to manifest.

They were just children in a way, really.

“Nice to meet you boys, but we have no time” Xukun said sharply, worried edge in his tone. “I’m pretty sure this was made all too easy for us to lure Quanzhe out, so we have to hurry before they notice that we are leaving without the crates.” Ziyi was right: the captain was thinking exactly the same thing as he.

“Yes, they were supposed to pretend to go out at some point and ambush you at the corridor” Zeren said. “But Xinchun ge sent them an order to wait for backup and to not lose sight of you.”

“That’s why they thought something went wrong with their plan, cool.” Quanzhe smiled.

Ziyi gave his fellow crewmembers a flabbergasted look and they all seemed to mirror the sentiment, even Zhangjing and Xukun. The latter shook his head dismissively.

“No time, no time!” he said. “How do we get out? What’s the devil’s roller coaster?”

“It’s something we used to do to get fuel from ships like this” Linkai explained. “But it’s crazy, Yanchen told us to do that?”

“Where do we go?” Ziyi urged him. “You can tell us how this works on the way there. We have no time to waste.”

“Right” Xingjie said and turned towards their new allies. “I guess you used the waste exposer on the way in too?” Xinchun and Zeren nodded simultaneously. “Then you lead the way back there.”

“And what am I supposed to hear in this? It’s all static now” Xukun asked pointing at the communicator in his ear.

“Oh, sorry” Xinchun apologized quickly as they made their way out of the cell block quickly. “Side-effect of my glitch, I’ll clean the comm signal for you.”

Ziyi had no idea what the boy was doing but suddenly the static in his ear ceased, only to be replaced by a familiar voice.

“Do you hear me now?” Yanchen said eagerly.

“Oh gosh, Yanchen, so good to hear you!” Xingjie said.

“I’m here too!” Another voice said cheerily.

“Zhenghao!” Xukun exclaimed happily. “Where are you guys exactly? And where’s Yanjun?”

“Yanjun is on the planet with the shuttle, providing the distraction, so he’s out of reach with us, but the Yuehua boys are still connected to Zhengting, so if something’s wrong we’ll know. I’m right outside waiting to catch you later and Zhenghao is also here on the Papillon with his new friend, Wenjun to reel us in once I tied you. Luckily, we are small enough to go unnoticed attached to the ship’s hull.”

“Wenjun.” That was the fifth brother as far as Ziyi remembered.

“Yeah, he is nice, but I have to learn the sign language because he’s mute.”

“Wenjun is not mute” The boys from Yuehua said collectively even though they had no earpieces. Ziyi guessed it’s good to have superior hearing.

“Oh, he just told me he’s not mute.” Zhenghao also said. “Then why don’t you just say the words instead of trying to sign or write them?”

“Shht!” Xinchun said from the beginning of their rally suddenly stopping with Zeren right beside him, the two peeping slowly towards the corridor before them. Xinchun reached for the hand of a surprised Xingjie behind him, grabbing it and motioning for him to do the same with everyone until they formed a weird human chain. When everyone was clutching someone else’s hand Zeren also reached for Xinchun’s hand and suddenly everyone disappeared.

Ziyi didn’t understand what was happening. Even though he felt Xukun’s sweaty palm in his right hand and Zhangjing’s iron grip around his left he didn’t see either of them. As he looked down, he realized he can’t even see himself.

Zeren turned all of them invisible, apparently.

Just as he was about to lament on it further, a group of soldiers hurried down the corridor towards the opposite direction obviously not noticing them. After some time, they all turned back while Ziyi watched Zeren lean forward exhaustedly, resting his weight on his knees.

“Yeah. Invisibility. Cool” Ziyi heard Xikan huff out in disbelief trying to process what just happened.

“Zhengzheng ge and his boyfriend are doing their job right” Zeren concluded. “They’re sending a second squad down the planet.”

“That’s good” Xingjie nodded. “Less patrols for us to avoid. I suppose you can’t do this mojo for too long, can you?”

Zeren shook his head.

“I had practiced this with three or four people. The maximum was six before and there’s eleven of us right now. This tires me out very quickly.”

“And we don’t have Justin to charge him up. Everything is so much easier when we’re all together…” Quanzhe explained sadly but needless to say, this did not clear anything for the crew.

“So how does this work?” Ziyi whispered to Linkai as they continued to make their way through several empty corridors. “How will we get off this place?”

“It’s all because of hyperdrive fuel.”

“What?”

“That stuff is highly explosive, you know. And a ship with a size like this uses a lot of power cells for every jump they make” the pilot explained. “Even when their containers are emptied the residue could still tear a huge hole in a ship like this if not handled carefully enough. So, they put the empty power cells in these huge electrically sealed boxes and float it out to the space before they make a hyperjump. As soon as it is far enough from the ship’s hull, the air locks automatically disable themselves and the sudden pressure change blows the whole thing up. This way they don’t pollute intergalactic space that much.”

“How considerate of them.” Zhangjing quipped sarcastically from Ziyi’s side. The first mate didn’t notice that he forgot to let go of his hand. Linkai giggled.

“Yeah I know. And also makes it easy to steal their fuel from them. We used to do this all the time. We would attach a small ship to the waste exposer before they make a jump and float someone in a spacesuit into the flood gate and wait out our time. Once we had an opportunity, we sneak on the hull, find the boxes, switch the empty power cells for full ones and attach it to the outer flood gate secretly, so when it’s opened it won’t fly away. Once the gate is opened you still shot out with the trash, but someone from the outside who is attached to our parasite ship gets you and the boxes and detaches the cord from the mother ship and everyone is reeled back in and we escape smoothly.”

“And quickly, obviously.” Yanchen added after hearing everything through their commlinks. “Because we have twenty minutes till the automatic seals let go and vacuum gets everything inside the box. In the case of the fuel it means we basically create a black hole with a massive explosion, but in our case, it means we all just die.”

“That is… pretty smart, actually.” Ziyi said impressed. “Reckless and highly dangerous, but smart.”

“And it used to take ages!” Yanchen exclaimed. “I mean, normally we would have to wait until a mother ship would be ready to take off hyperspace, wait out the whole hyperride and then wait until they decide to expose the garbage. There was one time when I was squatting inside the flood gate for two weeks!”

“And how do you plan that part now, Yanchen?” Xingjie asked curiously. “They haven’t noticed we escaped just yet, but they probably will before they make a hyperjump.”

“I can trigger the waste emptying mechanism from the inside of the flood gate.” Xinchun said. “My glitch can do that, I think I start to understand the system enough now…”

Xinchun fell silent again and Zeren stopped beside him, both of them seeing something in the empty corridor in front of them that no one else did. Quanzhe was beside Zuo Ye a little further down the line, suddenly gripping the other boy’s shoulder tight.

“What’s wrong?” Zuo Ye asked.

“We have to hurry” Xinchun said cryptically. “We’re running out of time.”

Zeren let out a string of words in Avian before switching to English. “And the commander has the tracking device. And she is down on the planet with the next batch of her soldiers.”

“Zheng ge can still get it.” Quanzhe said as they made their way down the long corridor with a hurried pace.

“Why would she take the tracking device with her?” Zhangjing wondered breathing heavily. “It can only detect signals from the crates, right? It’s no use for her to find Zhengting.”

“Unless it’s not just a tracking device” Xukun said, his eyes widening. “What if it’s a control device? They had GPS in them back in the early days when the NXTs were still well… stored in those pods on a regular basis.”

“Then why would they need your control panel if they have theirs?” Quanzhe asked slowing his steps to be in line with the captain.

“Because those things are not exactly for… actual control. But it can electrocute him. It used to render the boys in the lab motionless and froze their glitches.” Xukun hesitated, looking at the curious eyes of the boy running beside him. “Tell Zhengting to keep away from her no matter what! I don’t know how it would affect him.”

“He heard you.” Quanzhe said. “And he’ll risk it, we need the device.”

“I’m serious!” Xukun stopped turning fully towards Quanzhe squeezing his shoulder firmly in warning. The others running in front of them also noticed at reluctantly turned back to wait for them. “He really needs to understand that his physique might have a worse reaction than the clones the device was originally designed for, who knows… It’s too risky.”

“But we will never find out where Chengcheng and Justin are if we don’t have it!” Zeren argued.

“Boys, I promise you, I’ll help you find another way, just don’t go for it!” Xukun begged, his voice getting more desperate. “This is exactly what she expects you to do!”

Quanzhe, Zeren and Xinchun shared a glance and then all of them looked at Xukun with a grim expression.

“We have to get going, we don’t have any time!” Xinchun said and went ahead again, causing everyone to run after him.

The group finally stopped in front of a sealed door. Xinchun put his hand on a panel beside it and it slid open to reveal a huge bay with many vents leading to a huge clutter of waste on the floor.

It was easy to spot the boxes: there were several of them lined up near the other end of the bay. They all approached them, Xingjie pointing out which one was empty: they shouldn’t try to use the ones that already had nuclear waste in them.

“We have three crates and eleven people” Linong counted. “We can fit four in one, they’re big enough.”

“Right” Xingjie nodded. “Get in.”

Xukun, Linkai, Linong and Zeren got in to the first one and Xingjie carefully sealed them back up.

“They can’t hear us in the box this way, don’t they?” Zuo Ye asked.

“No, the comms won’t work, but the subspace boys are still here” Xikan said, patting Quanzhe on the back and the two of them got into the second box with Zuo Ye.  Xinchun pulled two spacesuits from under the garbage few meters away and put one into the last box and started to pull on the other.

Xingjie stopped suddenly and looked back worriedly.

“Maybe it would be safer if I stay behind and trigger the mechanism from the control room.”

“Is it really the right moment to question my abilities?” Xinchun asked heatedly. “You trusted us so far, you shouldn’t give up on that now!”

“Jie ge, get into the box.” Yanchen added through the comm.

Ziyi also urged the man.

“Go ahead, we don’t have much time and that box will also need someone who knows what will happen.” Xingjie gave up and got into the box reluctantly, Zhangjing sealing them away. There were only the three of them left in the bay as they opened the third empty box. Xinchun went over to the bay’s outer door to attach the boxes with heavy fixing cables.

“This should hold.” He told the two of them as Ziyi helped Zhangjing into the box. The first mate couldn’t believe how easily everything went so far.

“Oh shit… Wenjun?” he heard Zhenghao cursing through the comm while also hearing a loud thud from behind him. Ziyi turned around and paled as he found the source.

Xinchun was lying on a pile of garbage in a flaccid lump. Ziyi hurried over, Zhangjing quickly behind him.

“Guys, Wenjun just fainted. I don’t know what to do.” Zhenghao said worriedly.

“What? Why? What happened?” Yanchen asked panicking.

“I don’t know!”

“We don’t know either but Xinchun is also out” Ziyi told them his voice very faint. The proclamation was met with absolute silence.

“What the hell should we do now, then?” Yanchen broke the silence. Ziyi shook himself out of his reverie: he had to act now, they have no time.

That was what he did best after all, saving impossible situations.

“Zhangjing, help me put him in the box. I have a plan.” Ziyi told the quartermaster in a tone that the older didn’t even try to question. He just leaned down and grabbed the boy’s legs as Ziyi grabbed him by his armpits. They carried him to the box and Zhangjing got in so they could lower the boy in gently.

“OK. Now you buckle up as well” Ziyi told him. “I’ll seal you in.”

“What? No!” Zhangjing snapped.

“Someone needs to start the garbage exposal. Might as well be me.”

“And how the hell are you supposed to follow us after?” Zhangjing asked angrily.

“Don’t worry. I have plan”

Zhangjing just gave him an angry look.

“You have absolutely no idea how, do you?”

“Look, Zhangjing. This is the only way. Someone has to stay and they need you more than they need me.”

“We need you as well! They won’t send you to Jakuta this time. They will execute you!” Zhangjing was panicking now, desperately gripping Ziyi’s shirt and shoulder, trying to get the taller one into the box by force but the former general was stronger than him. Ziyi grabbed onto his hands to stop him but the quartermaster was still struggling against his grip.

“And what about you Zhangjing? You know everything they want! Your fate would be worse than execution! And you said the boys will be in trouble. You are the only one who knows both sides of the story. You have to save them Zhangjing, you have to help Xukun to have enough strength for this!”

Zhangjing finally stopped struggling but he was still shaking his head frantically.

“I can’t lose you” He whispered in a breathless voice. His devastated expression had broken Ziyi’s heart.

“I don’t want to leave you either” he said, his voice cracking, feeling treacherous tears escaping from his eyes and flowing down his cheeks. He leaned forward and put his forehead against Zhangjing’s. “But knowing that you’re all doomed would be even worse. You have to go on. You have to keep smiling for me, You Zhangjing.”

 _If not now, when?_ Ziyi thought, so he decided to go for it and put his lips on the quartermaster’s plump ones. The kiss was short and sweet yet Ziyi tried to pour every emotion he ever felt for the elder one in this bare touch of lips. He wished this moment would last forever but of course it didn’t.

Zhangjing slowly let go of him and crouched down. Ziyi let him, one hand reaching for the top of the box, the other holding onto Zhangjing’s as long as he could. Before he completely sealed the box, he stopped to find his voice. “I love you” he said finally.

“I love you too” Zhangjing whispered back. Ziyi slid the box closed with a heavy heart. He grabbed onto Zeren’s discarded stun gun on the floor and assessed his surroundings with clinical precision. He spotted an observatory window on the upper level of the bay. That was the place he had to go.

His tears didn’t stop flowing, he didn’t care.

“Ziyi ge…” Zhenghao’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He completely forgot about them.

“Haohao, Yanchen. Get ready. I’ll open the gate soon. You two be careful and take care of each other all right?” He ripped out his ear piece without waiting for their answer: he had no strength to elongate their goodbye.

He easily navigated on the corridors: he even surprised himself how well he remembers the outline of an enemy ship and how little the design had changed. He suddenly remembered the security camera feed: he wondered how they weren’t spotted through those. He suspected it must have been Xinchun’s doing, but he couldn’t tell for sure. He just knew that he probably can be spotted now, so he cannot waste time anymore.

The first time he encountered people was at the door of the observatory room: they were probably about to enter before Ziyi stunned them. He used their key cards to open the door: it slid back easily.

The computer wasn’t exactly rocket science to handle: he easily found the switch and watched the huge bay door open as he started to hear the sirens echoing through the halls outside.

They finally noticed their escape.

Ziyi didn’t wait around just until he could make sure that Yanchen’s tiny figure in a spacesuit had secured the towing cables into the cable he was attached to. They were out safely.

He turned around and hurried out to the corridors, making his way to the storage bay. The Nexum would assume they were going for the crates and the hangar bay after that: they shouldn’t even realize for a long time, how their garbage vent was unusually started.

He got pretty far away before he was noticed. As the Nexum guards surrounded him he couldn’t help himself but bitterly laugh out loud. All the adrenaline that got him going so far after all this had left his body and he was left as an exhausted hysterically laughing mess, leaving the soldiers around him astound.

You made your last miracle, Wang Ziyi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Ziyi. You stupid self-sacrificing fool. I guess I am little bit cruel.
> 
> I thought it would be appropriate to link you the theme song of Firefly, [The Ballad of the Serenity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwkDF5AxQM), if you are not familiar with it, listen to it. As I said before, my story has not much to do with the actual TV show, other than the whole space cowboys concept, but it was what had started this whole madness in the first place and the fic's title is from this song.


	11. Chapter 8: Yanjun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How bad could it be?”  
> “The worst case? Another civil war?”  
> Zhengting’s eyes bulged.  
> “Are you joking again, Yanjun ge?”  
> “I really hope I do, Zhengzheng.” Yanjun shook his head slowly. “I really do.”  
> Zhengting walked up to him, his eyes boring into the side of Yanjun’s skull. The gunman risked a glance towards him: their eyes had met for the first time since all this had started.  
> “It wasn’t funny,” Zhengting told him. “I’m sure you can do better.”
> 
> With a lifetime spent on mastering the suppression of them, Yanjun has a hard time adjusting to the warfare with feelings involved at all sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a freaking marathon. It took forever to edit and I'm still not sure it's what I wanted. And quite possibly it still has a lot of grammatical mistakes, but I can't brood over it any longer.  
> Anyways, I hope you'll like it! <3

Yet another day and Lin Yanjun found himself repeating his old mantra: life had to go on.

Because he had no time. He had no time to feel betrayed or angry. He had no time to feel anything at all about what he had just heard. He had no time to dwell on anything Zhengting just told them because he had to save his crew. He had to save his family from the mess that these strange boys got them into.

Yanchen and Zhenghao on the other hand were not so stoic about the new revelations. Their little group gathered on the bridge of the Papillon after the ship had entered hyperspace en route to the Haradria.

“So, your little brothers were kidnapped and you four escaped to find them and bring them back?” the teenager asked, looking from one boy to another.

“Yes,” Zhengting nodded. “Someone had sold information to your government and they were able to take Chengcheng, Quanzhe and Justin. They would have probably taken us four too if we had been there when they arrived, but we had training at the time.”

“Training?” Yanchen asked. “What were they training you to do?”

Zhengting hesitated, his eyes momentarily finding Yanjun’s, but he immediately looked away, avoiding the gunman’s gaze.

“Combat,” one of the younger brothers, Zeren said. “We were learning to handle our skills in battle situations. Yixing gege always hated these types of classes so he tried to postpone it as long as he could. The little ones had not been trained like this yet.”

“That might be good for them right now,” Yanchen lamented. “If they’re useless in battle situations they won’t be sent out there just yet by the Nexum.”

“If you think about it that way, that’s true,” Xinchun nodded. “But otherwise it’s not. During these training sessions they tried to teach us more about our glitches and how to control it. They actively trained us to probe our limits and expand our boundaries. So we’re sort of aware what we can do and where we can develop them. Of course, out here we still found ourselves a little bit lost, we kind of underestimated what we can do, but we could still stay in control.”

“I can’t really follow what you’re trying to stay,” Zhenghao said confused.

“Think about chemistry!” Zhengting said.

“What?”

“All of us are like… like minerals, raw out of the mines. The essence is there, but when you hold a rock of freshly mined silicon in your hands you know that’s going to be a microchip on your supercomputer, but if you try and fit it in there it won’t work. You have to shape it, work on it. But… that doesn’t mean if someone uses the rock to hit you in the head it won’t hurt,” Zhengting explained. “Not exactly used in full potential but still very useful. And Justin… and Chengcheng and Quanzhe, they’re just rocks right now with no idea what they’re capable of. And in the wrong hands, they can do wrong things.”

“Wow, Zhengzheng ge…” Zeren looked at his brother astonished. “You just used a metaphor. It’s so cool!”

Zhengting beamed at the younger boy. “I know, right? I have been reading a lot nowadays.”

“Well, to be fair, you did compare your brothers to rocks though…” Zhenghao mumbled, but Yanchen decided to ignore this.

“OK, now I kinda starting to see the problem,” he said nodding along. “And these glitches… they’re different for all of you, correct?”

The boys from the Gamma Galaxy nodded at the same time.

“That’s why I turned invisible before. Because you can turn invisible?” he asked turning to Zeren, who just nodded, smiling at him. “Cool. I was starting to think super-mechanics is your power. I mean, Zhengting is supposed to know the same things as you do, right? And he still couldn’t do that rewiring you just did, it was marvelous.”

Zeren’s flush was very impressive, it reached up to the tip of his ears and all the way down at the back of his neck towards his hoodie’s neckline.

“It’s one thing to know something and knowing how to use it,” he said, stuttering a little, wringing his hands together nervously. “I am interested in mechanics, so I am the best at things like this.”

“What did you two do?” Yanjun asked trying to come across as nonchalant and impartial but he had a hard time controlling his voice. Zhengting’s head snapped around so quickly at the sound of his voice that Yanjun was sure that his neck would have cracked audibly if he wasn’t a genetically manipulated superhuman. Right. This was something Yanjun would have to get used to.

“It was genius really, Yanjun ge,” Yanchen said, still in awe. “Zeren found a short circuit and managed to bypass it in a much quicker way I thought it might be possible. It has given us another extra hour if not more!”

“Is the Papillon quicker than the Nexum battleship in the hyperspace?” Zhenghao asked. Yanchen nodded.

“How much time do we have?” Yanjun asked Yanchen.

“Well, our trip will be around six-six and a half hour long. Usually this distance would take around eight or so but well thanks to our new friends it’s quicker now.”

“And how much time the Nexum need?”

“It’s hard to say. Xikan’s spyware had probably scanned their trajectories automatically but I don’t know how to read it,” Yanchen said, gesturing towards the navigator’s station. Wenjun curiously walked over and looked back at Xinchun to wordlessly communicate with him.

Zhengting’s three younger brothers had been very different as long as Yanjun’s first impressions of the boys counted. Zeren was approachable and friendly, maybe a little bit friendlier towards Yanchen for some reason but, overall, he seemed like a very jovial and kind boy. Xinchun seemed more cautious, less trusting towards strangers but he didn’t really seem to withhold information either. For the gunman the greatest riddle was the silent boy, Wenjun. He didn’t speak, he only used sign language which none of them knew amongst the three crewmembers, so the only way he could say anything was through his brothers, but it didn’t seem like he was actually wanted to say anything at all. It kind of creeped Yanjun out, to be honest. But the boy had easily calculated their trajectory once Zhenghao had explained how the galactic coordinates work and with his help they were able to enter hyperspace in less than twenty minutes after the Nexum battleship disappeared.

Wenjun had looked up from Xikan’s computer and motioned towards Yanchen to show him the parameters he was able to translate from the navigator’s software.

“Wow, that was quick boys!” Yanchen said his jaw dropped. “All right, it seems like they will take around 10 hours to get there.

“All right. That gives us around three hours of leeway to set up a trap for them,” Yanjun declared. He needed to take charge now, that was something he was not used to but had no other choice than doing it. Time was essential. "Any ideas how to get them of that blasted ship?”

His question was met with utter silence. After some time Yanchen tentatively raised a hand.

“I might have one. But it’s very-very risky and dangerous.”

 

The situation was awkward to say the least. All those sweet moments they shared yesterday had seemed like distant memories for Yanjun as he and Zhengting made their way down with the Papillon to the outskirts of the huge city on the planet Haradria. Nova Vox wasn’t just the capitol of the planet and the system surrounding it, but also the largest center of free trade in the whole galaxy. Situated in the Fifth Ring, it was far enough from the Nexus to be less bothered by the influence of the Nexum Prime, but not too far out for the wealthy to lose interest of the opportunities the largely overpopulated system had provided for earning some extra money.

“People won’t be happy if a Nexum Battleship shows up all of sudden here,” Yanjun mumbled to himself as he carefully entered the Papillon’s little shuttle into the planet’s atmosphere.

“Hmm? Why?” Zhengting’s question had startled him: he hadn’t expected the other to hear him. But of course, he would, his hearing would pick up Yanjun’s voice from the other side of the tiny ship and the boy was only sitting at the back of pilot’s cabin at the computer looking at the stats, as Yanjun slowly descended the hull through the clouds. The others had left them with the main ship to wait for the battleship to arrive. Yanchen’s plan was insane and Yanjun had seen very little chance of it going well. And he barely dared to think about the fact that Yanchen and the boys are the particle with the less risks in this crazy plan.

“It’s just that this planet really-really doesn’t like the Nexum. And to think that we’re about to release a fleet of soldiers against the greatest crime lords in the galaxy… I don’t know what the consequences will be.”

“How bad could it be?”

“The worst case? Another civil war?”

Zhengting’s eyes bulged.

“Are you joking again, Yanjun ge?”

“I really hope I do, Zhengzheng.” Yanjun shook his head slowly. “I really do.”

Zhengting walked up to him, his eyes boring into the side of Yanjun’s skull. The gunman risked a glance towards him: their eyes had met for the first time since all this had started.

“It wasn’t funny,” Zhengting told him. “I’m sure you can do better.”

If it would have been yesterday, Yanjun would have laughed at Zhengting’s words. Right now, he wasn’t sure how to react. The brothers’ confessions have been sitting heavily between the two of them, like an invisible wall that Yanjun didn’t know how to tear down. Heck, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to. While Yanchen and Zhenghao had taken the news about Zhengting in a stride and they spent their short hyperspace journey readying the boys what to expect on their little space walk and on the Nexum battleship and teaching them the basics of the navigation systems on the ship, he was busy having an internal battle with himself.

_He did tell you that you wouldn’t want to help him if you know the truth._

_But he could have still told me._

_And endanger his whole family?_

_I didn’t give him any reason to doubt me!_

_He only knows you for a week._

_I learned to trust him with stuff I didn’t tell anybody before._

_Yeah, he knows about your dad and your sister. That’s not exactly the biggest thing you could have possibly told him_.

But he didn’t even want to admit the real problem.

That it was just hurting him. Hurting him, because for the first time in many-many years, he felt something, and he was afraid that it was all for nothing. Because he just couldn’t shake the thought that Zhengting was still hiding something from him.

Once the boy noticed the huge city right in front of them, he rushed forward to ogle at it curiously. For the gunman the city looked polluted, run-down and ugly, but he was pretty sure that in Zhengting’s eyes, this place was a wonder. But soon his awed expression turned a little sour.

“What’s wrong?” Yanjun asked.

“Are there more people here than there were at Dinghao’s planet?”

Yanjun huffed.

“Of course! This is the biggest metropolis in the whole galaxy. Honey, at least 8 billion people live here!” Yanjun immediately regretted the unconsciously used endearment but Zhengting didn’t seem to react to it. His expression was still frightened and he swallowed visibly.

“Are they all out on the streets?”

“Well, local regional time is 9 PM so yeah, probably. People like to go clubbing and dates and whatnot on Fridays.”

“I… might not be as useful as I originally thought.” Yanjun stopped the descent and stabilized the shuttle to a waiting trajectory so he could switch on the auto-pilot to talk to his anxious companion. Zhengting had changed back to his original outfit with the addition of a pair of shoes which belonged to Yanjun originally. Ready to play the bait. His hands were wringing the sleeves of his grey hoodie nervously, his eyes trying to take in the intimidating sight in front of him.

“What do you mean?”

“This might be too much for me to handle.”

“Will this be too loud for you? Or the smell will be too much?” Yanjun asked worriedly. “More people don’t necessarily mean more noise. And the smell might be bad, but you were fine at the Setada and I think that was worse than here, with all those mining fumes and old oil plants.”

“It’s not just that. I…” Zhengting stopped for a moment seemingly trying to weight his words. Or to talk to his brothers. That might be a possibility too. “It’s just my glitch.”

Oh.

Yanjun did take in the news of these mysterious superpowers – these glitches – fairly easily. If cloning and genetic manipulation was possible, it was the logical progression in Yanjun’s opinion. He just sort of disassociated this fact with the Zhengting he got to know for the past few days.

“What is your glitch, Zhengting?” Yanjun asked in the end. Zhengting looked at him hesitating, chewing at his lower lip.

“Ah, it’s… I think the closest thing to it that I found in Zhangjing’s encyclopedia might be empathy?”

Yanjun’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What? So, you’re supernaturally good at reading people’s expressions? To tell what they feel or something?” It seemed logical: many things Zhengting did and said would be explained this way.

“It’s not just that. I don’t just deduct what you feel. I see it. I hear it. I smell it. If it’s very intense I can even feel it on my skin.”

Yanjun opened his mouth to speak but then he realized he didn’t know what to say to that.

“I… oh. On your skin?”

Smooth Yanjun, very smooth. This question might not be the most relevant question you should ask.

“Yes, that one can be really uncomfortable. Painful even,” Zhengting nodded, a bitter smile spreading on his lips. Yanjun instinctively felt his hackles rise over the thought of someone hurting Zhengting. This emotional response from himself scared him.

Oh. So Zhengting could tell this?

“Please don’t be worried about this!” Yes, apparently, he could tell. “I was trained to have a good control over it, so I would not overwhelm myself. Seeing the feelings, that’s easy to handle for me, but the boys actually hate it when they’re trying to see things with my eyes. Colors and auras, Xing ge explained it to us back in the day, those things sometimes normal people had seen. Smells, sounds that can be bad, but it’s manageable.” Zhengting’s eyes went unfocused around Yanjun’s face in his signature looking-at-him-but-not-looking-at-him way.

_Oh,_ Yanjun thought. _He is reading my aura right now. Wonder what he sees. Can he see that I…_ Yanjun wouldn’t let himself finish that thought. He might have given himself away that way.

“But you know, sometimes it can be too much,” Zhengting went on with his explanation. “When we tried to overstimulate me back in the lab it was much easier to get back in control when I had all my brothers with me. Focusing on their feelings was familiar and they always tried to help me anchor myself. But to tell the truth just knowing they’re alright was enough to help me get control back.”

And at that moment Yanjun realized something. Supernatural powers and crew kidnapping Nexum officers aside, Zhengting was still the same person that he was yesterday. A lost and worried man who was missing his brothers very much. A kind soul who over an expanse of a short week had made the lives of the whole crew a little bit happier.

“Zhengting…” he started. “I’m so sorry I can’t help you with that right now, but I hope you remember what I said yesterday. It still stands, though I’m not sure I would have a choice after all this. But even if I would have one, I would still choose to help you find Justin and Chengcheng. They are the ones, who are not here right now, aren’t they?”

Zhengting nodded.

“Until then… until then when you are in doubt, just focus on me. I’ll do what I can to… to anchor you, or whatnot.” Yanjun wasn’t sure why he said that, but it felt right to say it. He had no idea what he could do to help the boy with his abilities but if Zhengting’s adorable soft smile was any indication, it was the right thing to say and it made the gunman also smile affectionately. The soft expression on his face was short-lived though, a troubled one taking its place once again.

“Yanjun ge, there’s something else about my glitch you should know,” Zhengting said slowly.

“Hmm? I’m listening,” Yanjun nodded turning back towards the steering panel just to see an incoming call from a familiar name. “Oh, hold on to that thought for a moment, I have to take this,” he told Zhengting and switched on the connection.

“Xukun, this is not the best time for you to come here,” an agitated voice sounded from the speaker on the panel. “We have some problems here right now, one of our boys is missing.”

“Yeah, we know. Zuo Ye,” Yanjun said. “Hello to you too, Fen ge.”

“How do you know that? Yanjun, not Xukun. Why am I not talking to Xukun? Or Ziyi? Or Zhangjing? Or Xingjie? Or anyone more competent than you?”

That kind of hurt, but Yanjun couldn’t blame Qin Fen for saying that. Giving a side-glance to Zhengting he could tell that the empath did feel offended enough on his behalf.

“Is your docking platform outside of the city free? We need to talk face-to-face and quickly. I’m not sure this’s a safe channel.” In fact, Yanjun could probably name at least one person who was listening in to this conversation.

“It is free,” Qin Fen said curtly, understanding Yanjun’s unspoken warning. “Land and I’ll send someone to fetch you.”

“No, come and meet us with whoever you got. We have another place to go and our time is short.”

The good thing about Qin Fen is that he does not beat around the bush and does things quickly and efficiently. The same was true this time as well. As soon as he disconnected the call, Yanjun started the descent again.

Yanjun was far from being the best pilot in the galaxy, but in this case, having the Yuehua boys around was very useful, considering their interconnected minds had lapped up information like a sponge making Zhengting into a fairly reliable co-pilot in a short time. Together, they had make do for a safe though bit rocky landing, all the while keeping them busy, thus Yanjun did not even notice that their earlier conversation was cut short.

By the time they safely landed, Yanjun had spotted Qin Fen’s shuttle speeding towards them, noticing all the people in it.

“Damn it!” The gunman cursed.

“What’s wrong?” Zhengting asked.

“Should have told Fen ge not to bring Zhou Rui with him.”

 “Zhou Rui? Jie ge’s husband?”

“Yes. He won’t be happy to know what happened to Xingjie and Linkai.”

And he really wasn’t.

“Be careful, Rui. I can’t lose you, Rui,” Zhou Rui fumed, his voice a bad imitation of Xingjie’s. Yanjun quickly explained Qin Fen and his companions everything about the missing crewmembers but he couldn’t even get to the end of it before the Sironian leader exploded. “And then he goes and gets himself caught by the freaking Nexum army! And Yanchen! I never liked them doing the devil’s roller coaster, it’s reckless and stupid! But do they ever listen? No!”

“Rui, we don’t have time for this!” Mubo silenced him. “You rip a new one to Huba later, now focus on getting them back! So, the fleet ship that has taken our boy is coming here in three hours?”

Yanjun nodded.

“But what do they even want from us? I don’t even know, all they said that they want the NXT1996, but that means literally nothing to me!” Qin Fen snapped. “They’ve already taken the scrap tech, I don’t have what they’re looking for. Believe us, we would hand it over in a heartbeat if it means we would get Yeye back.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Zhou Rui said deeply in thought. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to give something that is so important to them that they go at such lengths to get it.”

“But it’s Zuo Ye!” Zimo, one of Qin Fen’s boys cried out.

“And who knows what you are giving over!” Yankai, the member of the Guoran Gang Yanjun knew the least had defended Zhou Rui quickly.

“Wouldn’t be our problem anymore at least. We are talking about Commander Finisher here. She is not sent out this far here for nothing.”

“You know this dude?” Yanjun asked before Yankai would give his comeback, trying to avoid an argument. Considering the course of the conversation, it was a good idea not to explain things about Zhengting and the boys to the upset Haradrians just yet.

“Not dude,” Peiyao, Qin Fen’s other boy said, the only one who was silent so far, expect of course Zhengting who was looking at the newcomers curiously. Reading their aura, Yanjun realized. “The commander is a woman. But she is pretty hardcore, she was the one annihilating the entire smuggling network in the Second Ring. Remember hearing that Yue Yue fumed about it for weeks. It is pretty suspicious for her to come here, I always thought Oner and their network has a sort of unspoken agreement with the Nexum Prime not to bother each other.”

“And that’s exactly what I’m counting on,” Yanjun said. “If you guys get directly involved than you will be forced to run with us. Zuo Ye will be fine, I’m sure you can ask Yanlei to fabricate a new identity for him. He is not the target and by the time we go on the run, they won’t be interested in you anymore. We will lure them away from you and ask Yue Yue to help us out. They won’t confront them, they don’t want a full-on gangster war. It gives Yanchen and the others enough time to get off the ship safely. But we still need your help, we need to be ready to bolt on a moment’s notice.”

Qin Fen laughed out loud.

“And how do you plan to convince them exactly?” he asked, his laugh sounding more forced by every minute. “On the basis of your past fruitful cooperation and the good impression Xukun left on them the last time you worked together?”

Yanjun sighed. He knew it won’t be easy, but it was the best chance they got. He looked at Zhengting whose eyes were fixated on him. The gunman didn’t need to be an empath to tell what the boy wanted with looking at him with those hopeful brown eyes.

“I’ll improvise, don’t worry.”

 

“Yanjun ge.” Zhengting huddled close to the older man’s back as they stepped into the crowded establishment. Clubhouse, as the owners liked to describe it. Yanjun’s hand immediately reached back to take Zhengting’s and squeeze it encouragingly. “These people are not good people. Oh, that one seems nice.” He said pointing at a woman who was obviously a companion entertaining a very drunk suit-clad businessman. Yanjun immediately reached out to grab Zhengting’s extended hand before they would notice, but the man was busy with shamelessly letting his hand stroke down further and further on the woman’s back. “But these colors are… I don’t think I have seen them before.” This statement made Yanjun think about many things concerning the two of them in similar situations and just how much would Zhengting even understand about what was happening, but he quickly realized that this was definitely not the appropriate time to lament about that.

“Will you be alright? This place and your… thingy. This doesn’t seem compatible,” Yanjun asked looking back at him with a concerned look. Zhengting’s eyes met his with determination.

“It’s bad. But I’ll be fine,” he said, squeezing Yanjun’s hand to reassure him. The gunman nodded.

“Stay close to me and try to avoid looking at people too long, okay?” he said to the younger in warning. Originally, he didn’t plan to bring Zhengting with him to this meeting, but he had insisted that he could help and to be honest, he was afraid that the empath would accidentally tell something to Qin Fen and they would not react too kindly. Zhou Rui - who kindly told him to go to hell when he suggested that he should also avoid getting involved too deeply – seemed like a more useful addition to their little delegation. The Sironian was pretty easily taken in by Zhengting with their matching open personalities almost as soon as the three of them stepped off the platform of the shuttle to get here. What was interesting that Zhou Rui barely raised an eyebrow on Zhengting’s unusual behavior. When Zhengting cautiously avoided answering the question about his home world, the oldest just shrugged and told him that it must be a funky place.

Yanjun led them towards the back where the bar was situated, and he didn’t need to search too hard to recognize the looming tall figure standing at the far end of the counter and he also seemed to notice Yanjun as well, since his gaze hardened and his face visibly darkened. Yanjun could feel Zhengting squeezing his hand even harder. He chuckled to himself: Zhengting can probably decode these feelings quite easily.

With a couple of long steps, he approached them, their stride meeting in the middle. Yanjun was forced to look up: something he truly hated and fortunately rarely had to do. But this was not one of those fortunate times. And if the man’s height didn’t make people go week in the knees, his face, the slight growl he was emitting right now had definitely finished off the effect.

“You better tell me you are here because you have the SWIN leader’s head on a silver plate for us or I would not be forgiving. You have a nerve to show your face for me, Lin Yanjun. Zhou Rui, didn’t expect you with him. Hello.”

Yanjun looked away for a moment, an evil smirk appearing on his face.

“I’m not scared of you, Bu Fan,” he said and he really wasn’t. You cannot be intimidated by a man you had seen earnestly imitating a sheep for a memorable night of charades less than a year ago on a job together and then acting like a huge baby when Linkai refused to call him a “wolf fairy”, whatever that was.

“We knew you would come here,” Bu Fan growled again.

“Not surprised, your little ears work very fast.”

The taller shrugged.

“What can you do, my didi is really good at his job.”

“So, will the boss hear me out or not now?”

“Told him not to.” Bu Fan shifted, his hand disappearing in his mink overcoat. Yanjun’s free hand – the other was still holding onto Zhengting’s close to his back, making himself stand between the young man and the underboss – had also stroked down on the outline of his hidden gun instinctively, but - as it turned out - unnecessarily. “But he said to give you a chance at least. Come on.”

Yanjun only realized how hungry he was when they walked into the lavishly decorated private room of the boss of the Oner Gang. Yue Yue knew how to pose himself and he did it with style: there was a luxurious elegance in the expensive furniture the room had, but what caught Yanjun’s eyes was the table richly loaded with expensive food items. The gunman could hear Zhou Rui growling in anger beside him at the sight of that and Yanjun understood: the leader of the Sironian refugees worked at least ten hours a day to put enough food into the belly of his people and here Yue Yue was wasting it away, fully well knowing how expensive food has become recently in the system. The Sironians had good relations with the Oner gang since it was one of the old distribution warehouses that Yue Yue ordered Mu Ziyang, one of his other underbosses to renovate and give to the refugees to house them and to give them a headstart in a new life, but this didn’t make life that much easier and the Oner refused to help more than that.

Not to mention, when Yue Yue learned that Zhou Rui is actually married to Zhu Xingjie, crewmember of the Papillon, he kindly discontinued any business relations between his organization and the refugees.

The Oner gang really hated Cai Xukun since that one job went south. But it really wasn’t Yanjun’s fault no matter what everyone said!

“So, let me get this straight,” Yue Yue said, cracking out his neck slowly. Bu Fan was still standing behind him looking menacing and they were joined by the gang leader’s two other favorite underboss: Mu Ziyang, who was in charge of the various night clubs around the city and Ling Chao, who was in charge of the gang’s very extended spy network. “You want us to get into a major conflict between your crew and the Nexum Prime, but you don’t offer me any information about what exactly they want from you or without getting anything in exchange.”

“Do you have it?” Ling Chao asked. Yanjun looked at him: he never understood how someone with such beautiful features can be this high position in a crime den and get there out of sheer ruthlessness.

“What?”

“The NXT1996. The stuff they are looking for.”

Yanjun was worried that this question would come up. Telling the truth obviously wasn’t an option though.

“We know how to make them think we have it.”

“How?” Ziyang asked. Yanjun hesitated.

“Look, you don’t really have to do anything. Rui ge found us an abandoned warehouse where we can lure them. We just need firepower to scare them away and keep them occupied. I know you guys have connections in the Nexum Prime. You can use this as leverage in negotiations considering they entered your territory?”

Yue Yue seemed to consider this for a while and then slowly spoke.

“You might have a point with this,” he said. “The Finisher may be a rabid dog, but I know who has her on leash and I can deal with the grand admiral, he has an… interesting history with the separatists, which I helped him get out of back in the day. The problem is that I don’t trust you. What if you “disagree” with my methods again and “forget” to tell me the change in plans?”

“Not to mention we’re talking about the Finisher here,” Ling Chao added. “I’m surprised you, Lin Yanjun are this involved, it’s suspicious.”

Yanjun’s eyebrows furrowed deeper.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Yue Yue smiled.

“I think he really doesn’t understand, didi,” he said. “Huh. That should be interesting.”

“Enough of this!” Yanjun snapped impatiently. “We don’t have much time left so tell me: will you help or not?”

“Please, Yue Yue!” Zhou Rui quipped in. “You might not like the Papillon and Xukun and the others, I understand. But one of Qin Fen’s boys is involved in this. He never did any harm to you and helped you out when you needed it. Just please, consider it!”

Silence followed the Sironian’s words. Yue Yue’s face was a mask of indifference, but Yanjun had seen the guilty look that found his way to Ling Chao’s face and Ziyang had also seemed to shuffle on his feet a bit uncomfortably. Yanjun also felt Zhengting stepping a little bit aside from behind him, closer towards the underbosses, the elder wasn’t sure why.

“My answer is still no,” Yue Yue’s sharp voice had broken the silence. “Bu Fan will walk you out.”

As Bu Fan walked closer to them, Zhengting seemed to suddenly trip on thin air and almost fell face forward to the ground. Fortunately, the tall underboss had been close enough for Zhengting to crash into him, instinctively grabbing onto Zhengting’s wrists and shoulders to stabilize him. For a moment Yanjun’s heart stopped beating, worried about Bu Fan’s reaction, but he had to fear nothing: he should have learned by now the effect Zhengting had on people and judging by the furious blush on the tall man’s face, he had not been an exception. The boy smiled sweetly at the underboss, tilting his head to the side, cradling his hand in both his smaller ones, squeezing it slightly.

“I’m sorry, I can be such a klutz. Thank you for catching me.”

Bu Fan had an interesting expression on his face, the initial embarrassment long gone, but it wasn’t the same as it was before either. Softer, more contemplative. But Yanjun didn’t have much time to lament on it, as they were rushed out of the clubhouse quickly, leaving their hopes behind.

“Did you just pickpocket him?” Zhou Rui asked Zhengting curiously as they were speeding back towards the Papillon.

“I didn’t pick his pocket,” Zhengting said with an innocent expression. “I only touched his coat and his hands when I fell forward, and I didn’t choose that for him either. This was the first time I met him, I couldn’t possibly do that.”

“I mean have you taken something from him?” Zhou Rui rephrased his question seeing that he was misunderstood.

“Of course not! That’s stealing!” Zhengting said incredulously. “I’m a good person, I don’t steal things from people.”

Zhou Rui’s face blanked at that. He turned to Yanjun who was gliding them through the busy roads of Nova Vox back towards the Papillon.

“Should I give him the big bad boy talk, or will you?” he asked Yanjun, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Yanjun just rolled his eyes in response but did not speak. “Honey, you are surrounded with interplanetary criminals who make their living of shipping stolen goods.”

“This is not the right time, to talk about this…” Yanjun protested but he was cut off by Zhengting.

“Like pirates?!” he said in astonishment. Zhou Rui laughed out loud, not really sure whether Zhengting was joking or serious.

“You haven’t been spending too much time with the crew, haven’t you? Your boy here, Ziyi, Xukun and Zhangjing are all prisoners on loose.”

“I know that but… they are good people! They don’t steal! Right, Yanjun?” The boy’s hopeful eyes turned towards the gunman who felt uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze. This seemed like an answer enough for Zhengting.

“Don’t feel so bad, baby,” Zhou Rui told him. “They ARE good people. It’s just the world that is unfair.”

“I… I guess you are right.”

“Okay, can we please move on?” Yanjun interrupted them. “We are on a time sensitive mission here and we need another plan.”

“Yeah, what now?” Zhou Rui asked. “It’s not like the three of us is enough to pull this off.”

Yanjun sighed.

“We will have to, I’m afraid.”

 

“I don’t feel good about this,” Yanjun said into his radio while establishing his outpost on the warehouse rooftop having a clear view of the spacious yard and the other wing of the building. He could spot Zhou Rui on his hiding place at the other wing with Yankai and Mubo and his boys on a third position between the two of them. After they got back to the Papillon with the news of the unsuccessful mission Qin Fen and his family didn’t even want to hear a thing about Yanjun trying to protect them, so they decided to join. Yanjun had reluctantly emptied out his gun arsenal - he felt uncomfortable giving away his precious babies even if it was only temporary - and they came up with a decent enough plan hoping that they could at least keep them occupied for a short time. “You really should have at least taken more than a little handgun with you.”

Zhou Rui groaned out loud. “When did you become such a mother hen, Lin? The boy will be fine.”

“Yes, ge,” Zhengting said into Yanjun’s ears. “I will be fine.”

“But I still don’t understand why you are so sure that they will follow Zhengting there,” Qin Fen said. The man himself was on his way to his workshop alongside Zhengting.

“Can’t you just trust me on this?” Yanjun said, getting slightly angry at the constant question.

“No, I cannot!” Qin Fen argued. “This is really serious here. It’s not just about Zuo Ye anymore but my whole family! We are walking into danger blindly, I…” Qin Fen suddenly became silent.

“Fen? What happened?” Mubo asked worriedly.

“I…” Qin Fen started, his voice hesitating. “It’s you.”

“Yes.” Zhengting answered.

“Zhengting!” Yanjun realized what happened and wasn’t happy about it. He knew that just a few hours ago, he was complaining about Zhengting being distrutsful, but now he thought that maybe he should have exercised this practice a little bit longer.

“They do risk a lot, Yanjun ge. They have the right to know.”

“Know what?” Zhou Rui snapped.

“That they are looking for him,” Qin Fen said.

“What?” Zimo asked astonished. “You were in that thingy? It couldn’t have been very comfortable…”

“Is that really the most important thing right now?” Peiyao asked his older brother, his voice an octave higher. “I thought it’s a weapon, not a person.”

“I… I guess I _am_ a weapon,” Zhengting said, his voice contemplating. “And they already have my brothers who are very similar to me. They were kidnapped, I’m trying to find them. One of them is actually on this battleship, and three others are helping us out up there.”

“How many of you are out there?” Mubo asked.

“Seven in total. I want to find the other two.

“Shit,” Yankai cursed. Zhou Rui’s reprimanding cuff at the back of his head could be heard through their radio connections. “What the hell did we got ourselves involved with?”

“I’m sorry,” Zhengting said.

“For what? That they kidnapped your brothers? It’s not like you could do anything about it!” Zhou Rui said, his reaction shocking Yanjun effectively. This was definitely not the what he expected from the other man at this news. “You will explain this to us later. Yanjun was right, right now a need-to-know basis is enough.”

“How can you possibly be a weapon?” Yankai asked curiously.

“Ah… I can do things that normal humans can’t,” Zhengting explained, his voice a little embarrassed. “I am quicker and stronger. And I’m… I’m good at reading people.”

“That can be useful,” Zimo said.

“I hope it can be!” Qin Fen said. “Otherwise our plan is screwed.”

“It will be fine. I promise,” Zhengting reassured them. Yanjun didn’t want to feel like that the younger was reassuring himself, but it unfortunately did.

“Are you back at the workshop yet?” Mubo asked.

“Yes, we’ve just arrived,” Qin Fen confirmed.

“That’s good,” Zhou Rui said. “Because I got eyes on a military shuttle heading to the Eastern dock. Will you find your way there, Zhengting? And back here?”

“Yes, I had seen the map,” the boy confirmed.

Then there it went.

Less than twenty minutes later Yanjun could finally hear the voices in Qin Fen’s workshop they were waiting for.

“Good evening, sir!” a surprisingly cheerful voice was heard through their earpieces.

“Good evening to you too, Gentlemen!” they heard Qin Fen answering. “I’m sorry, but we are out of business hours, the workshop is closed, so if you would be kind enough and return tomorrow, I would be grateful!”

“Are you Qin Fen, sir? The owner of this establishment and a fifty-year-old Firefly class cruiser ship?”

“Yes, that would be me. Who do I have the pleasure speaking with?” Yanjun applauded Qin Fen’s incredible acting skills: his voice didn’t even falter during the entire conversation.

“Sir, I’m Lieutenant-Commander Jiang Jingzuo. I am here to talk to you about the message, my commanding officer, Commander Lin has sent to you.”

Jiang Jingzuo. Wow. That’s a name he hadn’t heard for a very long time. Jingzuo had been one of his old roommates in cadet-school, they had known each other for ages. It was ironic that out of all the military officers they need to face right know is someone he actually knows very well, though he hasn’t seen the other since he quit the military. The last time he had heard about him was when he visited Dinghao who had kept in touch with him: at that point, four years ago, Jingzuo was only an ensign and assigned under his newly promoted lieutenant. That’s why he remembered it: because Jingzuo was really frustrated about the fact that a much younger officer was outranking him. One both Dinghao and him knew very well.

Oh no. No. No. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t do this.

“Yes, I guessed that. And I still can’t tell you any more than I did tell through the commlinks to Commander Lin. I did not know anything about the device I sent my employees to pick up, one of my business associates found it and hoped I can find out what it was and how much it worth.”

“And what about that Firefly? The Papillon?” Jingzuo continued his line of questioning. “Were you aware that we had to arrest the entire crew with the charge of identity theft?”

“I… what?” Qin Fen gasped. “I have given out the Papillon at a lease to a man named Cai Xukun. I didn’t associate with him other than collecting payment for it. I didn’t know that it’s not his actual name, the paperwork was alright. I didn’t know that’s not who he was.”

“There were several members of the crew manning the ship with criminal record, running from jurisdiction.”

“I… I am as shocked as you are! I didn’t know anything about Captain Cai’s crew.”

Yanjun could barely hear what Qin Fen said over his own panicking. Maybe it was nothing and he was worrying himself unnecessarily. But if what he thought was true, he couldn’t imagine going through this plan with a straight mind.

“Yanjun ge…” Zhengting’s soft voice was calling out for him. This sobered him up a bit: the younger boy’s part in the plan was very quickly approaching and yet there he was trying to calm Yanjun. "I can hear your panic through the radio, please try to stay calm, I can’t help you right now.”

“Guys,” he said, trying to gain back control over his voice. “This Commander Lin. The Finisher. What’s her real name?”

“Is it really important right now?” Zimo asked incredulously. “I don’t know. She introduced herself when she caught us, but I don’t remember.”

“Me neither,” Peiyao said.

“Was it… by any chance… Lin Meiling?” Yanjun asked, the name sounding almost unfamiliar from his own mouth.

“Yes. It’s her,” Mubo confirmed impatiently. “Can you get back to the case at point now? We will need you alert. Zhengting is about to go in.”

And it was true: on Yanjun’s GPS, Zhengting’s dot had arrived at the Eastern Dock. In any minute now, he would try to “get on the shuttle” and would “accidentally” get noticed doing it. Then he would make a chase towards the warehouse where they would start firing at them as much as possible, so they would think they need additional troops to help them out.

“Yanjun ge,” Zhengting spoke up. “Xinchun and Zeren just started their walk. Quanzhe said the men on the ship are expecting an escape attempt. Yanchen ge says we need to be careful down here too.”

“How do you know that?” Zhou Rui asked. “And who are those people?”

“Doesn’t matter. Is their part of the plan still on?” Yanjun asked.

“Yes, they think they would go for the stasis pods,” Zhengting said. “The boys can deal with the guards.”

“Then let’s get this party started,” Yanjun said. “Zhengting, go!”

They didn’t have a chance to see what has followed afterwards. What they noticed was the shuffling sounds and some distant yelling. Yanjun’s heart stopped beating the moment the first sound of gunfire was heard, but Zhengting was quick to assure them that he is fine and he periodically did so for the next few minutes.

“Just be careful!” Yanjun still told him. The gunman heard Jingzuo’s voice through Qin Fen’s commlink asking for status report from his man and hurriedly leaving the shop owner behind.

Zhengting was really fast: even though the troops had the benefit of speeders while Zhengting was on foot he obviously gained advantage on them. His dot on Yanjun’s map had made his way towards them in an insane pace.

“He is on foot!” he heard Yankai say in disbelief. “He is so fast!”

“I got eyes on him,” Peiyao said. “Gosh, he is going on the rooftops, they can’t touch him like this, smart!”

“Is he for real?” Zimo gasped.

“Zhengting, status report!” Yanjun demanded. He didn’t need the useless chattering of the others he needed to know Zhengting was fine.

“I didn’t let them lose me,” he said, sounding a little bit breathless but not as much as Yanjun expected him. “I’m going to gain some distance on them, I’m going to need time to hide.”

“OK, make sure they see you come in,” he said. The fact he couldn’t have an eye on the boy from his position on the rooftop was killing him. Just as he heard the military speeders booming in the area, he spotted Zhengting appearing on the courtyard of the storage building.

“Everyone! Positions!” Yanjun ordered. “And remember, you mustn’t be seen from the courtyard!”

“Aye, Commander!” Zhou Rui said.

“Not funny, Rui ge,” Yanjun shut him down. He almost missed it: just the moment the warehouse’s door creaked open again, revealing the first one of Zhengting’s pursuers, the Yuehua boy had literally climbed the wall with a speed that was quite difficult to follow. Before he could blink, the boy was on the second story, jumping right back in a broken window soundlessly.

“Sir, I lost eye on him on the courtyard!” the soldier said.

“When do we start shooting?” Peiyao whispered.

“Not yet. The rest of the chasing party needs to arrive first,” Yanjun said. “We need some clout at the courtyard, so he would still think Zhengting is there.

“I’m on it,” Zhengting quickly said. The moment later an empty tin barrow fell over.

“How did you do that?” Zimo asked.

“Throw a stone at it, is that all right?” Zhengting asked and Yanjun needed some time to realize that he was hearing him for real not just through the comm. He turned just to see Zhengting squatting down beside him, a few trails of sweat dropping of his forehead. He was smiling.

“I have to admit, ge. This was fun,” he said letting out a heavy breath. He got his hand into his pant pocket getting another small stone out. In a blink of an eye, he straightened out and hit another barrow at the courtyard, quickly squatting back towards their hide-out. Yanjun watched through his scope as the soldier rushed over there, his gun in up at alert. “Better than it ever was in the lab before.”

Yanjun swallowed heavily. Now that Zhengting was safe beside him, his worries about the other parts of the mission and Lin Meiling had returned.

“How do they know that you’re what they are looking for?” the gunman asked. “Maybe they think you’re just a friend of Xukun who wants to get them off the ship. Then they wouldn’t ask for backup if we attack them.”

“My eyes glow when I over-exert my glitch,” Zhengting explained. Yanjun risked another glance at him: their eyes met.

“Ge, you need to focus,” Zhengting told him seriously. “You need to lead us in this, you can’t panic.”

“Easy for you to say, I can’t just turn it off!” Yanjun snapped. His hands were maniacally clutching his favourite sniper gun, trying to still his trembling hands. “Zhengzheng, I don’t know what to do! You know why, you have to know!”

“I guessed,” Zhengting nodded, tentatively extending his arms towards Yanjun and biting his lips nervously. “I can…” he started, hesitating a bit. “Can I help you?”

“What do you mean? How?” Yanjun frowned, the crease in the middle of his forehead deepening further.

Zhengting’s hands were trembling as he stroked one of them down at the side of Yanjun’s face while the other hand smoothed over his frown. Yanjun felt shocked and scared: what Zhengting was doing was sweet, but he really didn’t have time for this: he needed a way to deal with the “Finisher” if she came here. And then he suddenly felt it. His hands stopped trembling, his grip on his gun had become confident instead of desperate. He felt calm.

Zhengting didn’t just read emotions. He changed them.

“Please, don’t hate me,” the empath said to the frozen gunman. “I never use it unless if it’s completely necessary and I hate it when I have to!”

Yanjun kept silent, the realization slowly dawning on him. Zhengting had just manipulated his feelings.

“Yanjun, they are here!” Zhou Rui snapped at him, shaking him out of his reverie. He looked down at the courtyard to see the rest of the troops finally rushing out of the building.

“Don’t shoot yet!” he barked out. Only when they are more spread out. They haven’t been here to kill these men, they were here to cause enough ruckus. Of course, he can’t guarantee there won’t be casualties. He counted on the soldiers panicking. As he risked a glance to his side and see Zhengting eyes glowing hauntingly white, that was definitely what the younger boy also had in mind.

“They are afraid already. I can sense them, I can enhance it from afar too,” he said. Yanjun acted like he didn’t care about that. As shocking as it was what Zhengting did, it helped, keeping his head cooler and his focus better. He took a deep breath and turned back towards his gun’s scope.

“Now,” he said as he took aim and shot the first shot just right beside his old friend’s ear. The very moment he heard the shots from the other hide-outs: he was clear on the orders. Fire the first round of shots quickly and then slow down. Their ammo wasn’t limitless after all.

Everything went according to plan. Yanjun felt it was almost too easy.

As soon as they started to fire the troops had hastily started to retaliate. The only one staying seemingly unaffected from Zhengting’s glitch was Jingzuo himself, trying to calm his squad while shouting orders at them over the gunfire.

This was going on seemingly for several minutes, when finally, Zhengting grabbed onto Yanjun’s shoulder reassuringly.

“They just commed for backup to the ship!” he announced.

“You heard that over this gunfire?” Yanjun asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t. Xinchun did.”

“Oh. Great,” Yanjun said. “Keep firing guys, we still need some time. When their backup arrives, get ready to bolt!”

Yanjun knew it was too good for everything to go right.

Because he didn’t expect the scale of the backup. It seemed like the mothership was completely emptied: several shuttles had circled the building from up above, completely exposing them, who were on the rooftops.

“Run, run guys!” He yelled into the commlink. “We have to go right now!”

He didn’t have to say it twice to get the affirmation. He grabbed onto Zhengting’s wrist and dashed to the nearest entry to the relative safety of the warehouse. Gunshots had been firing towards them from the aircrafts and Yanjun had seen the troops descending from ladders. Once they made it inside, they made a bolt down the stairs as quick as possible.

“Fen ge, where are you?” Yanjun asked. He and Zhengting tried to make their way down the stairway but they had to choose another route when they heard the troops coming up from downstairs. They dashed through a narrow corridor to another staircase downstairs.

“I just arrived with the transporter I’m two blocks down from you on the West Avenue.”

“Guys, Mubo ge was shot!” Zimo’s breathless voice came through.

 “I’m fine for now!” Mubo yelled. “It’s just my shoulder, keep running!”

Nothing could be heard for long minutes and then finally Peiyao said “We’re out. Meet you at the transporter.”

“Freeze!” someone yelled and Yanjun needed a minute to realize that he heard it through the commlink. Zhengting and he had finally reached the ground floor. Now they just had to find an exit.

“Yankai, go!” Zhou Rui yelled at the boy and for the next minute they only heard gunshots fired. Meanwhile Zhengting was pointing at a window which had long lost the glass from it facing the street. Yanjun quickly rushed over and glanced out.

“No one is there, I can’t hear anyone,” Zhengting told him.

“Guys, they had taken Rui ge,” Yankai gasped into their earpieces. “I’m out, but he was caught.”

Yanjun hesitated for a moment. What if she was there too?

“Don’t worry I’ll go back for him,” Yanjun reassured the scared boy in the end. “We need to end communication, turn off your mics!” They’ll probably take Zhou Rui’s commlink and then they would be able to listen in.

“I’m going too,” Zhengting told Yanjun as they both switched off.

“Absolutely no way.”

“Ge, she’s here. And she has the tracking device,” Zhengting said.

“Tracking device? What tracking device?” Yanjun asked confused.

“The tracking device for the stasis pods, that’s how they found mine when the boys had taken it. We’re going to need it to find Chengcheng and Justin.”

“No, Zhengting! You would have to go straight to them, it’s not a good idea!”

“Then don’t come with me,” Zhengting said, his tone final and run ahead of Yanjun.

“Wait! Zhengting!” The gunman whisper-yelled at him. He managed to catch up to the boy and he grabbed him by his hood to make him squat down just as he was about to pass an exposed window towards the courtyard. Yanjun risked a peek outside just to see that the soldiers seemed to gather there with a captured Zhou Rui held at gunpoint in the middle of the open space. He couldn’t see what’s happening that well, since they were on the ground floor but he could still figure out the most of the situation from his vantage point.

And then, Yanjun had to realize he was right all along as he spotted her standing there.

Even in a situation like this, he had to admit that after all those years of not seeing her she still looked great. Maybe a little too serious and worn-out, but nonetheless healthy. One of her subordinates just handed over Zhou Rui’s commlink to her.

“Attention out there! My name is Commander Lin Meiling and we have one of your men captured. We are not here to cause any harm, I just want to negotiate terms. I’m sure that this must be a misunderstanding,” she spoke into the device, her voice determined.

“I see the tracking device. It’s strapped to her arm,” Zhengting told Yanjun quietly.

“Why would she have the device in the middle of an operation like this?” the elder asked confused. “It’s not like she can use it to find you outside your pod.”

Zhengting looked at him and then decided to ignore the question.

“She is very disciplined,” the empath murmured, his eyes lighting up again. “We need to make her lose focus, this way I can’t reach her emotions without physical contact. You’ll need to distract her, while I go in.”

“How should I do that? And what about her regiment of soldiers? What do you plan to do with them?”

Zhengting huffed annoyed.

“I made a miscalculation,” he said.

“What?” Yanjun asked impatiently. Meiling’s voice was getting snappier through the commlink as she didn’t get any answer to her questions.

“I thought if all his friends would say so, the oldest would give in.” Zhengting wondered. “The other two were already feeling guilty because of Fen ge and Rui ge, and I thought if I could get the scary looking one to our side, he would have to send his troops.”

“Who? What? Yue Yue?” Yanjun asked in disbelief. “You manipulated Bu Fan?”

Zhengting nodded.

“But I misunderstood how the organization works, I guess.”

“Okay. Wow,” Yanjun said shaken up. “We will need to have a serious talk about what’s acceptable to do and what is not, clearly!” Of course, he wanted the Oner to help them. He was willing to risk their lives for the sake of their own agenda, but he would never force them to do so without their consent. That was something the Nexum did, and he most certainly won’t be doing it ever again.

“Oh, really?” Zhengting’s voice went up a slight notch from annoyance. This was new to Yanjun: he had never seen him actually angry before. “And you will be the one to tell me what I am allowed to do? Considering that you have been in prison for something apparently, you must be an expert on how to live my life according to a proper moral code!”

“You misunderstood me, that’s…”

“No! It’s you who don’t understand!” Zhengting cut Yanjun off, his gaze fiercely challenging the gunman’s. “I will do anything in my power to get my brothers back and no one can stop me from doing it! Not you, nor Xukun, not even the whole Nexum army!” he finished the argument and stood up. “I’ll get in there, come up with something!” And he was gone before Yanjun could even say a single word.

Yanjun let out a long sigh from frustration. How could he be so frustrating all of a sudden?

_And why am I so keen on saving his stubborn butt?_

He hesitatingly reached for his comm, cleared his throat making sure his voice will sound stable and then turned on his mic.

“Long time no see, my little Meimei,” Yanjun said, his voice as light and jovial as he was able to force himself. It seemed like it was the right thing to do, because Meiling’s expression immediately turned into confusion and then quickly into shocked recognition. He didn’t expect her to remember him just from his voice. It had been ten years since the two of them spoke, after all.

“You are supposed to be dead. You died on Jakuta, I read the report,” she said, clearly having an even harder time to gain control over her own emotions than Yanjun himself. “I had to sign off on your ashes to be disposed of.”

“Ouch, that’s not nice!” Yanjun said, shocking even himself how easy it was to faking being hurt over this. He knew how much his father hated him, but he was hoping at least his mother would have kept his supposed earthly remains. Apparently, she wouldn’t even bother to get them herself and that stung him a little bit. “I was hoping at least you would honor your favorite brother with a proper funeral.”

“I don’t have a brother. Lost one for a long time before that.”

“Yes, I thought I might be mistaken,” Yanjun said. “I wasn’t sure about it when I saw you. I thought: come on Yanjun. Your brave and awesome little sister cannot be dumb enough to be still going along with Dad’s grand plan of making the family one of the posing monkeys of Nexus. Come to think of it, I’m still not quite sure if it’s you or not…”

Meiling turned her face away so Yanjun couldn’t see her expression clearly but he heard her clearing her throat.

“Stop yapping!” She said angrily. “You attacked my mates. Why?”

“You’re trespassing,” Yanjun told her. “Even the almighty Nexum Prime can’t do that without the permission of the owner or a warrant.”

“This is not your property! You cannot have property, you’re dead!”

“I don’t sound dead to me,” Yanjun continued teasing, while mentally urging Zhengting to hurry on. He could tell from her frustrated growl that she was getting annoyed, he hoped it was enough for the empath to do his mojo. “But I admit I might be biased.”

“I can’t believe you! You didn’t change at all, did you? This conversation is completely pointless!” she went on an uncharacteristically angry rant. That was when he spotted the silent grey figure approaching the soldiers through the shadows of a less lit area of the courtyard: only thing Yanjun could see that was giving away Zhengting’s presence was his glowing eyes. The elder hoped that the boy would be able to keep up using his glitch to such extent long enough.

It was clear Zhengting was focusing mainly on upsetting Meiling and only working on the other soldiers at the periphery of his abilities. It seemed to be working on them too, but it was a sloppy work: the soldiers’ gazes had turned slightly glassy and a keener observer could tell that something was wrong, but Zhengting’s strategy had seemed to be based on all the soldiers being too distracted by their own emotions.

Even Yanjun didn’t spot the error in that until it was too late. That the empath’s crowd tactics seemed to work with everyone expect on one Jiang Jingzuo.

The only warning sign the gunman had was the frown on the lieutenant-commander’s face after Meiling’s angry outburst. This was apparently not the status quo with her troops. And when Yanjun later lamented on the situation, he realized that he might have been the only one with the necessary amount of information to put the picture together, that’s why he was more alert than the others.

But no matter why it happened, it was happening. Jingzuo didn’t hesitated: he grabbed onto Meiling’s arm and spun it towards himself. Yanjun didn’t realized what he was doing until it was too late: Jingzuo grabbed the device strapped onto the commander’s wrist and he turned the large switch up to max next to the little screen on it.

Yanjun didn’t know what was happening: he had only seen Zhengting froze in his place and then falling down motionlessly like a sack. The soldiers seemed to collectively awaken up from their daze around him, immediately noticing him and gathering him up yelling for their commander and dragging Zhengting’s seemingly lifeless body towards Meiling. Yanjun turned off his mic as he cursed out loudly: he had to get in there somehow and now he had to get both Zhou Rui and Zhengting out, the latter unconscious. Fantastic.

Or at least, Yanjun was hoping he’s only unconscious. Thinking about the other alternative had squeezed the gunman’s heart in a cold grip, he tried to quickly swat it away.

Meiling’s angry gaze had turned towards Jingzuo murderously at first.

“What have you done? You idiot!” She yelled at him.

“He was manipulating you, he was manipulating all of us, Ma’am!” Jingzuo protested. “Your device is to stop him, doesn’t it? So I had to try. I was hoping he was close enough for it to work.”

“You should be hoping that he is not dead, or we all will be soon!” Meiling scolded him. “Zhang! Is that it? The 96?”

“Yes, Commander!” The officer closest to Zhengting claimed.

“Is he alive?”

Yanjun didn’t even notice that he was holding his breath.

“Yes, Commander!”

Meiling let out an audible sigh. Yanjun couldn't help himself echoing her. “Then you’re lucky, Lieutenant," she said. "Your plan accidentally worked, congratulations.”

Jingzuo squared his jaw, visibly swallowing his retort. Yanjun could understand both of them, a silent conversation going on: they both know Jingzuo did the right thing and they both pretended that Meiling was right. In the military, everything is about posturing and rank.

Suddenly a hand was pressed against Yanjun’s mouth as someone put him in a choke-hold. He struggled on instinct until Bu Fan’s familiar face had appeared in his line of vision.

“You will have much explaining to do about your glowing-eyed little plaything that the Nexum wants so much over there, but right now, you will go in there, get Rui-jie and your boytoy out and leave. My didi will find you and contact you later when you have that good-for-nothing captain of yours back.”

Yanjun couldn’t believe his eyes. Zhengting’s persuasion had worked after all. The one behind him – Ziyang, as Yanjun realized after turning – had released him.

“Shakespeare. Wolf Fairy.” Yanjun called them looking both in the eye. “Thank you very much! We won’t forget this, I promise!”

Bu Fan’s expression turned even more annoyed.

“Go before, one of my snipers’ hand will accidentally slip and shoot you while you’re in there with my troops!”

Yanjun didn’t need to be told twice to join the little group of gangsters, that on Ziyang’s sign had flooded the little square courtyard successfully hiding Yanjun from attention.

As they attacked the soldiers restraining him, Zhou Rui had flung himself into action fighting his way over to the troops restraining Zhengting, putting the one that was holding him out of commission with one swing of his arms. Meiling was barking orders left and right trying to make her way towards Zhengting, but the Oner gangsters knew who the operation’s real target was and blocked her why Zhou Rui dragged Zhengting towards Yanjun who had both of his beloved handguns out, shooting soldiers around him left and right. Once Zhou Rui made his way over, he trusted one of the guns in his hand and hoisted Zhengting up on his shoulders in a fireman’s carry, while he was still holding out his other hand with his second gun. The two of them managed to get away from the scuffle fueled purely on adrenalin.

Yanjun’s gaze had met Meiling’s for a second as he and Zhou Rui had opened the door leading towards the street. She was far away, and the gunman couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought that he could see at least a hint of longing in his little sister’s eyes as she took in the sight of him, but it might have been just his wishful thinking.

Yanjun operated on auto-pilot as he got into the back of Qin Fen’s speeder van, collapsing against the cool metal body exhaustedly, cradling Zhengting’s still motionless body in his arms. No one said a word for minutes as the workshop owner had sped towards the outskirts of the city. And then, Zimo decided to break the silence.

“So, your little sister, huh?” he said. “Talk about a messy family.”

That’s when Yanjun realized yet another error in his mission: he had forgotten the other’s turned-on communicators. Yanjun let out a long breath and he looked down at Zhengting’s head resting against his shoulders. He seemed so peaceful like this.

Yanjun thought it was at least all worth it and the others were all safe on their way towards their meeting point with the Papillon.

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: the crew of the Papillon (as I said at the beginning, they are a little older than in real life):  
> Cai Xukun (29): Captain - the leader of the crew  
> Wang Ziyi (30): First mate - the substitute leader of the crew  
> You Zhangjing (32): Quartermaster - the one in charge of the inventory, food and accommodation of everyone on the ship  
> Zhou Yanchen (25): Head engineer - in charge of the maintenance of the Engine Room  
> Qian Zhenghao (17): Junior engineer - that's his official title, he supposed to be Yanchen's help, but he is more like a mascot  
> Wang Linkai(21): Pilot - he is the one flying the Papillon and he is good at it  
> Li Xikan(23): Navigator and Communication Officer - his job is to make sure, they won't get lost in space and to handle their communication channels: a technician who works on the bridge  
> Zhu Xingjie (32): Gunman - gunman, in charge of the ship's and the crew's security  
> Lin Yanjun (29): Gunman - manpower for Xingjie, professional sharpshooter  
> Chen Linong (23): Medic - he is the doctor of the ship in charge of the infirmary
> 
>  
> 
> Constructive criticism is truly-really-extremely highly appreciated, beta reader applications are just pure love.  
> I am in desperate need, as you can clearly see above...


End file.
